The Shikigami Ranger and the Monster Mashers - Coreline
by orionpax09
Summary: The Core Timeline is an amalgamation of chaos. The so-called real world has been overlapped with the realms of movies, comic books, anime, and more. And on Halloween, Michiru Kururugi, the Shikigami Ranger, must fight alongside his loved ones to save this world from utter annihilation! Note: Involves characters from multiple animes, cartoons, comics, and more.
1. A Deadly Halloween Threat

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, any of the characters or concepts depicted here, or anything associated with them. I have written this story solely because I enjoy writing.

The Shikigami Ranger and the Monster Mashers

Chapter 1: A Deadly Halloween Threat

"So how're the local PKE levels looking?" Ranma Saotome wondered as he made his way towards one of the installations maintained by Stingray Industries for the various teams making up the Champions. The pigtailed man was looking at technological bracelet that was projecting an image of one of his teammates who was helping to coordinate the Champions' efforts to deal with the latest disaster to hit the patchwork quilt of a world that was known as Coreline. "Any chance they've gone down any?"

"I'm afraid not," replied the amalgam of Yui Ikari and the Vision that was their resident communications and computer expert. The android woman came from a world where Gendo had found a way retrieve Yui's soul by transferring it from Evangelion Unit 01 into an android body that could house her mind and soul. She possessed a face and hair that was organic in appearance, but her android body was mostly white. "PKE levels are continuing to rise at all lei line convergences, as well as any other location with a high level of supernatural activity. If they continue to do so, the possibility of a dimensional breach at each of these locations will become dangerously high."

Issuing a heavy groan at this, Ranma shook his head and muttered, "Figures this would happen on Halloween..."

"Halloween _is _known for a dramatic increase in supernatural activity," Yui reminded Ranma, a hint of humor in her android voice. "Certain spirits, such as Samhain, grow far more powerful, and -"

"I know, I know," Ranma grumbled sourly. This wasn't his first Halloween in the crazy world of Coreline; the pigtailed martial artist knew just how nasty that particular holiday could get. "So how goes the preparations?"

"We have already mobilized all teams of Champions that specialize in dealing with supernatural crises to each of the locations," Yui reported. "All other available heroes are in the process of securing Stingray Industries assets and buildings to insure their safety, or are working with other superhero teams and the Foundation to evacuate civilians in the danger areas, as well as establish containment zones, in the event something happens."

"So if anything nasty _does _manage to break through, we should be able to hold it where no one will get hurt," Ranma gathered, glad that things were going smoothly, or at least as smoothly as could be expected. "Any problems working with Avengers Infinity or the Justice League or any of the rest of them?"

"None so far," Yui returned, her eyes narrowing somewhat. "Do you expect for a problem to occur?"

"Expect it? No. But with a mess like this, you better believe I'm _anticipating_ it," Ranma explained as he looked over the building that was presently serving as the temporary headquarters of the super team selected to deal with the mounting PKE energies radiating throughout New York City. "Listen, Yui...I know Misa-chan vetted this crew, but are you _sure _they're up for something like this?"

Her brows furrowing somewhat at this, Yui then answered, "The Shikigami Ranger and his team have proven to be competent and extremely reliable in several crises in the past. And they are uniquely qualified to handle a supernatural disaster, as well as a large-scale extra-dimensional assault. Why do you ask?"

"Because I read up on this team," Ranma returned, despite having only skimmed over the team files. "And since the team in question is composed of a _teenage boy_ and his _harem_...you'll excuse me if I have my doubts."

"So is _that _why you asked to be the coordinator with this team on this mission?" came another, more welcome voice. A moment later, a familiar, mischievous smile appeared within the holographic display. "Do they remind you of something? Maybe bring back some memories?"

"Hey, Misa-chan," Ranma replied, smiling fondly at his wife. Then he quickly sobered and replied, "Yeah, it brings back memories. Memories of the kind of chaos that happens with the sort of thing. Seriously, I've seen it happen too many times! Harems in a battlefield situation like this almost _always _wind up ending in total disaster! They have some problem they can't leave at the doorstep, or the girls start trying to outdo each other or grab the guy's attention, or -!"

"Ranma, I know. I've seen it happen a few times myself! Both before and _after _we landed in this crazy world!" Misato reminded him in a more pointed fashion. Then all teasing vanished from her face as she went on to say, "But Michiru Kururugi and his team have an excellent track record. Every mission they've taken on has been completed successfully, and with little to no civilian casualties. Plus, they have multiple experts on arcane forces and ancient magic. And since Michiru happens to be a Power Ranger, he and his team comes complete with _Zords _which have all been upgraded with the best technology from various zoids, Gundams, and other forms of mecha. So if we have something big and nasty show up -"

"I get the idea, Misa-chan," Ranma broke in, holding up his free hand in surrender. Then he issued a sigh of reluctant surrender. "But...I still have a bad feeling about this. There's a lot that can go wrong in a situation like this. And putting them here? In New York City?! We still have Shandor's feeder system for Gozer! It might be shut down, but that doesn't mean something can't start it back up again! And with these PKE levels -!"

"Don't worry, it's not like this crew is going in unassisted. The local Ghostbusters and several super teams are also ready for action." Then Misato gave him a playful wink. "Besides, even if the Shikigami Ranger and his team have problems...why, that's what _you're _there for! To reign in any chaos you find and keep everyone on task!"

Looking at his wife's face, Ranma couldn't help but smile at her point. "Okay, okay. You win...again," he finally conceded. "But I'm really hoping this isn't a mistake, Misa-chan. This has been a crazy enough year as it is. We don't need anything else happening to add to the mess."

"No arguments here," Misato nodded thoughtfully. "Keep in touch, lover."

"Will do. Ranma, out," the martial artist concluded, deactivating the communications link. As his wife disappeared, Ranma again looked at the decent-sized building that was housing this particular team of Champions, and issued another sigh. "Oh, damn...I have _such _a bad feeling about this..."

But even so, Ranma knew there was a job to be done. And after pausing to pray to whatever deities that might be listening that this would not end in a total disaster, he made his way up to the building. Upon reaching the main door, he put his hand on a panel that looked like an ordinary, everyday intercom for an ordinary, everyday mid-size industrial building. The instant he did so, a digitized voice said, "Identify yourself, please."

"Ranma Saotome," the martial artist replied, aware that, even as he spoke, hidden sensory devices and computers were scrutinizing every detail of his body, everything from retinal eye patterns and voice print to DNA and dimensional energy signatures. All in an effort to make certain that he was who said he was, and whether or not he was to be allowed entrance.

An instant later, the door slid open, with the electronic voice saying, "Welcome, Mr. Saotome."

Bracing himself for what he was certain would be utter chaos, Ranma strode into the building, making his way towards where he knew the Command Bridge was located. _If this crew has even half their act together, then that's where most of them will be,_ he thought, still suffering a bad feeling about this. _Yeah, and since when does _any_ harem have their act together?_

Wincing at memories of some of the fiascoes that resulted from his own band of female admirers whenever they got together, not to mention his rivals and so on, Ranma continued down the hall, only to pause when two female figures appeared. "Huh?"

"Oh, you must be Mr. Saotome," greeted one of the girls, who he quickly recognized as a variant of the Demon Slayer Sango. Only this Sango was wearing a green uniform that was an odd mix of Power Ranger esthetics and her traditional Demon Slayer uniform. Even more surprising was that this Sango was a couple feet taller than most Sangos, boasted considerably larger muscles, and had the green hair, eyes, and skin that marked her plainly as a gamma mutant. "Headquarters told us you'd be coming."

"Uh...ah..." Ranma replied, taken somewhat by surprise. His surprise increasing when he looked at the other girl, was tall, busty, and seemingly nude save for a belt with an old-school Power Morpher, a black bikini hiding her considerable assets, and large swatches of fur on her arms and legs. Two tails stretched out from her posterior. She had orange, cat-like eyes, a diamond mark on her forehead, and cat ears sticking out of her pale yellow hair.

"Greetings," came the furry girl, greeting him with a polite bow of her head. "I am Kirara. Pleased to meet you."

"Kirara?!" Ranma blurted out, only to mentally smack himself in the face. He had met a few alternates of Sango and Kirara in the past, so it was easy for him to see the trademark details of the two-tailed feline in this cat-girl now that he knew what to look for. "Hey, sorry! I just...um..."

A beat passed as Kirara studied him, a slight frown marking her lips. "Weren't you briefed about the members of our team?"

"Uh..." Ranma hesitated, unwilling to admit that he had only skimmed over their files, having been unable to get past the horrifying notion that he was dealing with a boy and his harem, as well as the bad memories this notion brought back. "Sort of," he finally said with a note of humiliation. "With everything that was happening, things were pretty crazy. And...there wasn't enough time for a full briefing."

"I see," Sango returned sympathetically. "Things _have _been pretty chaotic ever since the alert was sounded." Glad that they were taking his half-truth at face value, Ranma waited as the gamma-powered Demon Slayer went on, "We'll give you a proper introduction to everyone once we get to the command bridge."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that," Ranma confirmed, more reassured by Sango's mannerisms than anything else. She certainly had her act together, and if she was anything like the other Sango's he'd bumped into in this world, then he could certainly count on her and Kirara to function well if it came to a battle. "So...lead the way."

Nodding to this, Sango turned and started forward, with Kirara moving alongside of her. "So, uh...would you mind telling me a bit about yourselves?" Ranma started, wanting to get a better handle on this crew he was going to be working with. "Like...I've met a few alternates of you two before, but, uh..."

"None like us?" Kirara guessed, glancing over her shoulder at him, grinning a grin that showed off a set of cute little fangs. When Ranma nodded, the two-tailed girl went on to explain, "Alright. But it _is _something of a long story."

"In this crazy world? What isn't?" Ranma wondered rhetorically. "Just give me the abridged version of it."

Nodding to this, Kirara paused to take a breath before proceeding. "Very well. It all began with our Michiru, when he was forced on a strange journey after coming into contact with the sword Sounga. He landed in the New York City of our world, and had to work with the Ghostbusters there."

"Seriously?" Ranma started, not having expected this development.

Nodding, Kirara continued with, "Because of the legal ramifications surrounding his unexpected entry into the United States, he was forced to discretely make his way back home to avoid being arrested. In doing so, he made a great journey that put him in several strange situations, during which he met many...unusual people. Some of which you'll soon meet."

_Oh, so _that's _how he picked up his harem,_ Ranma thought with a slight wince. _I wonder what kind of nuts we're dealing with?_

"At one point in his journey, Michiru found himself in the mountains outside Angel Grove, where he found a storage bunker left over from when the original Power Rangers' Command Center was destroyed," Kirara continued in her pleasant voice. "Inside, he found many artifacts that Zordon had had stored there, including the original Power Coins, as well as -"

"Now, wait a minute. Hold on," Ranma interrupted, holding out his hand. "I know a little about Power Rangers history, but - the way I heard it, I thought all of the Power Coins were _destroyed!"_

"You are correct that the Ninja Coins that were provided to the Rangers by Ninjor _were _destroyed," Kirara confirmed. "However, the _original _Coins, the ones that were first given to the Rangers and were subsequently depowered with the destruction of the Thunder Zords, remained intact. They had suffered a tremendous shock as a result of the Zords' destruction, and had subsequently been placed into storage. But over time, the Coins began to regenerate their powers."

"Really?!" Ranma gaped, surprised by this development.

"They were still very weak when Michiru happened upon them," Kirara continued. "But he could still sense the inherent power they held within. And so he decided to take them, as well as the remaining stored data and equipment there, hoping that they could be of use in the future."

"Eventually, Michiru found a way to use his magic to reenergize all the Coins," Sango noted with a hint of pride. "He made them even more powerful, and even found a way to create new Coins."

"Which explains your getups, I guess," Ranma decided, again focusing on Kirara. "And, so...I'm guessing that that Morpher has something to do with you...?"

Smiling again, Kirara nodded. "That's correct. Michiru gave me one of the coins he created. And when I bonded to it, the power it gave me enabled me to assume a humanoid form, even when not morphed." Heaving a deep, fond sigh, the two-tail mused, "I can't tell you what a blessing it was. To be able to speak in true words. To _finally _be able to express myself in a way that I could be understood by my friends and loved ones..."

"Okay, that's one mystery solved," Ranma nodded. Then he turned his gaze towards the gamma-Slayer. "But what about you, Sango? How'd you...?"

"End up big and green?" Sango wondered with a wry look on her face. "It happened shortly after Michiru returned to Japan. He used his magic to bring me to the present, and we...I wanted to see his world, his time. I wanted to see how well I could...adjust to it. To all of the changes that had taken place over the centuries, and..."

"You wanted to go out on a date, Sango," Kirara chided her companion. When the Demon Slayer turned to her companion, her cheeks darkening in a gamma blush, the two-tail added, "There's no use denying it. You wanted to spend some time with Michiru, where Miroku couldn't get in the way of your time together."

When Sango's cheeks darkened even more, Ranma cleared his throat, hoping to get back on subject. "So, uh, anyway...what happened?" he wondered, drawing the Demon Slayer's attention once more. "Did you wander onto the testing grounds of a gamma bomb, or...?"

The blush coloring Sango's green cheeks faded, and her eyes dropped somewhat. "No, I...it was...something else," she replied, a slight tremor of old fear in her voice. "A madman calling himself the Leader attacked Japan. He unleashed some kind of...gamma virus, and..."

"Uh-oh! You had me at 'The Leader'!" Ranma groaned, having run into variants of that ego-maniacal gamma genius and seen just how easily he could take a bad situation and make it ten times worse. "So, let me guess; he wanted to turn all of Japan into gamma-powered slaves? Something like that?"

Nodding to this, Sango continued with, "InuYasha was able to get Kagome and Kirara to safety. And Michiru, he was able to morph, so...he was protected. But...I wasn't as lucky."

"Michiru empowered more of the Coins and gave them to InuYasha, Kagome, and myself," Kirara continued. "With the help of some of the local superheroes, we were able to stop the Leader." Then she glanced at Sango, and frowned slightly. "But...not before some of the people were...permanently mutated."

Groaning at this, Ranma turned a sympathetic gaze on Sango. "Damn, I...I'm sorry, I..." As the Demon Slayer continued to look downwards, the pigtailed man asked, "So, uh...are you...you know...stuck like that?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, no! I can change back to normal!" Sango quickly assured him with a kindly smile. Then her expression darkened before she admitted, "But...at first, I was...I couldn't control myself at all. I was...pure rage...changing whenever I got angry, and..." His insides twisting at this, Ranma could only look sympathetically at the woman warrior as she went on. "It...took me...a long time before I could...get control of myself. And if it weren't for Michiru and his magic, I...I don't think I could have ever..."

Though her words had failed her, Ranma could very easily read the pain that she had not given voice to. He knew from seeing it with his own eyes the agony people who were forced to struggle with their inner beast went through before they were finally able to reclaim control of their lives, of their very souls. "But...anyway, I...it worked out in the end," Sango finally declared, her expression making it clear that she was merely shoving her pain to the side for the moment. "And I have to admit," she went on, pausing to flex a mountainous bicep, "all this extra muscle comes in handy. I know it certainly helped against Naraku."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Ranma nodded, having heard plenty of horror stories about Naraku. "So, uh...how much further to the Command Bridge? We still have a lot of work ahead of us."

"We're almost there," Kirara assured him.

True to the two-tails' word, less than a minute later, they reached the Commander Bridge. As the door slid open, Ranma found himself envisioning utter chaos. Girls arguing, taunting each other, fighting for the affection of the one guy each and every one of them had her heart set on. The same absolute chaos that was his life in Nerima.

To Ranma's utter astonishment, what he found was the exact opposite. Yes, there were numerous women of different ages, races, and even species, but they were either working away at some task, or they were seated in ways that made it clear that they were ready to launch themselves into action at a moment's notice.

The first thing Ranma noticed was a boy in his teens in a uniform that was nearly identical to that of the original White Ranger, though there were differences. The helmet he had under his arm had a mouth instead of streamlined metal, the tiger emblem at the center of his armored vest was replaced with a pentagram with Japanese glyphs on it, and his belt had a Power Morpher, as well as a Blade Blaster holstered on one side and the magical short sword Saba on the other. He had short, curly brown hair, and grey-blue eyes that seemed to miss nothing as he studied the various display screens and holographs there. And beneath his Ranger uniform, he possessed an extraordinary physique; the skin tight outfit did nothing to disguise a body composed of lean, rippling muscle.

"That's Michiru, over there," Sango pointed out needlessly. "Michiru!" Turning about at the gamma mutant's call, the Shikigami Ranger looked as she indicated Ranma. "This is Mr. Saotome, from Headquarters."

"Huh? Oh, right!" Michiru returned, looking a bit sheepish. Making his way over towards Ranma, the boy extended his free hand. "A pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Likewise. I just wish that it was under better circumstances," Ranma returned with a nod. "So...you're the Shikigami Ranger."

Smiling in a bashful manner that betrayed a shy nature, Michiru then nodded. "Yeah, I'm Michiru Kururugi." Then he glanced down at the short sword hanging from his belt, as well as the tiger head at the base of the grip. "And this is Saba."

"Hello," Ranma returned, uncertain how to greet someone with no hands, and decided to settle with a simple bow.

"Greetings, Mr. Saotome," the enchanted sword returned in a polite manner.

"Michiru! Over here!" came a woman who was seated at one of the computers. She was dressed in an odd patterned outfit consisting of red and black, a dark jacket of similar colors, and a Morpher on her belt. Her short, brown hair was done up in a bun, and a look of grave concern marked her features. "We're picking up a major spike in PKE energy! It looks like the beginning of a major cross-dimensional event!"

Making a face as he glanced back at the woman, Michiru then returned his focus to Ranma. "Uh, sorry, Mr. Saotome, but, uh..." Nodding his understanding, the martial artist watched as the Shikigami Ranger darted back to the woman, saying, "Uh, Sango? Kirara? Could you -?"

"Of course," Sango nodded. Then she looked at Ranma and sighed. "Sorry. He gets pretty serious at times like this."

"It's times like this when you _have _to get serious!" Ranma responded. As Sango again nodded, he glanced about at the other women present. "So, uh...you were going to handle the introductions...?"

"Yes, of course," Kirara nodded. Gesturing at the woman that had called for Michiru's attention, she explained, "Over there is Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn."

"Selwyn?" Ranma repeated, just before memory nudged his consciousness. "Wait - isn't she a descendent of -?"

Both Sango and Kirara held up their hands, making noises of negation at this. "Uh...yes," the gamma-Slayer replied, pausing to glance back at Ilyssa before continuing, "Sorry, but...Ilyssa...she _really _doesn't like being reminded of that..."

Deciding that he couldn't blame her for not liking the idea of being related to a genocidal maniac such as Ivo Shandor, Ranma nodded his understanding. "So, she's monitoring the mess we've got outside?"

"That's right. Ilyssa is an expert on all known forms of Ghostbusters technology, and has a great deal of arcane knowledge," Kirara confirmed. Then, in a lower voice, she added, "She has...other abilities, but..."

"You'd rather not talk about them with her around. Got it," Ranma whispered back, deciding that he didn't need to know her full story as long as she did the job. Then he glanced over at another of the ladies there, who was surrounded by arcane energies. She had long, light purple hair, and her eyes were glowing with magical energies. "Say...isn't that a variant of...?"

"Charmcaster?" Sango gathered. When Ranma nodded, she replied, "Yes, but we prefer to call her by her true name; Hope."

"So how'd she come to join up with your crew?" Ranma wondered, studying her garments. She was also wearing a variant of a Power Ranger costume, only this one was purple and seemed stylized towards her mystic heritage. "Aren't most variants of her...?"

"Corrupted by the power of the Alpha Rune or by her uncle? Unfortunately," Kirara confirmed. "Michiru encountered her when he met the Ben 10 of his world, and they were forced to team up and destroy an evil Anodite that was stealing all of the mana on Earth. Fortunately, Michiru had already found the Power Coins, and was able to combine his magic with his Ranger powers, and together, they were able to trick the Anodite into a magical trap that drained all of her powers."

"Hope was nearly killed in the process, though," Sango explained. "Michiru was able to save her with his healing magic, and in the process, destroyed the corruption that was taking control of her. Later on, he and the others went to her home world and defeated Adwaita, freeing her people and sealing the Alpha Rune away so it couldn't hurt anyone else."

Deciding that he could see how something like that could get a girl to fall for him, Ranma was about to ask something else when another girl spoke up. "I wish you wouldn't talk about that. Not with Hope in the same room." Starting at this voice, the martial artist turned towards the owner, only to start when he saw that it was a female gargoyle. "I know she's projecting her astral form to investigate the anomalies, but...talking about that sort of thing..."

"We know, Angela," Sango assured her in a gentle manner. "But...Mr. Saotome asked, so -"

"Uh, hold on. Wait a second," Ranma broke in, holding up his hands as he studied the girl before him. She was indeed a gargoyle, and an attractive figure of one with lavender skin, long dark hair, and large wings that were presently draped around her shoulders like a cloak. She wore a crimson uniform that was almost like armor, and had a Ranger helmet under one arm. "Um, excuse me...Angela, was it?" The gargoyle gave a polite nod. "Um...don't take this the wrong way, but...you're a gargoyle, right?"

A beat passed before the gargoyle smiled pleasantly. "Of course," she confirmed. "Have you...not met one of our kind before?"

"On occasion," Ranma assured her. "But, uh...it's still daylight out. Shouldn't you be...you know...a statue right now?"

"Oh, _that!"_ Angela blurted, drawing looks from some of the other femmes there. "I understand. But...well, after Michiru and I met, he devised a spell that would prevent my clan from turning to stone, and allow us to sleep as humans do."

Now this caught Ranma by surprise. "Seriously?!"

Nodding, Angela continued with, "He was able to create what he called a sunstone inside each of our bodies. It absorbs solar energy, allowing us to move about freely during the day." Pausing to glance over at Michiru, she gave a happy sigh. "I can't tell you what a miracle it was...being able to see the sun with my own eyes...feel its warmth..."

Getting an idea of how Michiru had first won this gargoyle's ardor, Ranma then asked, "But if this...sunstone thing allows you to stay up during the day, then how he doesn't give one to the other gargoyles in this crazy world?"

"Health issues," Kirara flatly replied. "Several lobbyists for gargoyles of various species have concerns about the long term effect of the sunstone, and want to be certain it wouldn't cause any lasting harm before allowing more to be created."

"That's right. Though I really don't know what they're making such a fuss over it," Angela admitted with a touch of annoyance. "I go into the doctors once a month for an exam, and they know that I'm in good health. Anyone can see that it's not hurting me."

"Yeah, it sure looks that way," Ranma confirmed, giving the gargoyle girl a quick onceover. Then he gave a helpless shrug and added, "But...you know politics. It doesn't have to make sense to screw stuff up."

"I know." Then Angela made a face and grumbled, "And...I can't believe that there are some gargoyles that _don't_ want to be able to see the sun! They think it's wrong to want to not turn to stone, to -!"

"Um, Angela?" Sango interrupted in a gentle manner that instantly grabbed the gargoyle's attention. "I'm sorry, but...Mr. Saotome _did _want to meet the rest of the team. So..."

Letting out a slight gasp, Angela brought her clawed hand to her mouth. "Oh, of course! I'm sorry, sir!"

"Hey, it's no problem," Ranma quickly assured her. Then he glanced about at the other ladies that surrounded him. "So, uh...who's next?"

"Why not us?" waved a girl, one of a pair that were seated next to each other. The girl who was waving was garbed in a dressy, pink version of a Ranger uniform, but had accessorized it with a long, yellow coat. She also wore a set of purple shades. She was seated next to a girl with long, dark hair that seemed to match her dark expression. Her outfit was a fairly plain gun-metal grey Ranger suit, with nothing fancy or distinguishing.

Finding himself liking the first girl's outgoing attitude, Ranma went over to the pair. "Alright, why not you?" he wondered as he came up to their sides. "I'm Ranma Saotome. And you are...?"

"I'm Jubilation Lee," the first girl declared, and as Ranma watched, bursts of energy that looked like fireworks exploded from her hands. "But everyone just calls me -!"

"Jubilee, of course!" Ranma concluded, recognizing the mutant's powers immediately. Then he glanced over at her companion and asked, "And you would be...?"

A few seconds passed in an awkward silence before the second girl answered, "My name is Laura Kinney, but the name I was first given is X-23."

At this point, Ranma felt a bit nervous. He was familiar with variants of Wolverine and his clone, X-23, and just how utterly deadly they were. Humans that had been crafted into some of the deadliest killing machines their worlds had ever seen, and with exceedingly dangerous tempers to go along with their cutting claws and exceptional healing factors. They were great people to have on your side in a fight, as long as you didn't piss them off. And then there was the nasty matter of the Trigger Scent...

"Hey, chillax!" Jubilee beamed, apparently taking notice of Ranma's hesitation. Sporting a broad, happy grin, she continued with, "I know, X can have a bit of an -!"

"Fangs?!" Ranma blurted out, his eyes widening as he focused on Jubilee's grinning face. And of greater concern, the vampiric fangs that glinted dangerously in her mouth.

"No, she has an attitude, and - oh, you mean _these,"_ Jubilee interrupted herself, her grin fading almost instantly. "Sorry. Forgot about that." Then she gave Ranma a sheepish look and elevated her shades, revealing eyes with blood-red irises. "Uh...you don't have a problem with vampires, do you?"

"Uh..." Ranma sputtered out, trying to think of a way avoiding saying that, yes, he did have a natural wariness of blood-sucking ghouls that could turn him into an undead slave. Wracking his brain for some clever and graceful way out, he seized on something he read regarding variations of the mutant before her. "Well, uh - you just shot some fireworks, right? That's your mutant power?" Jubilee gave a quick nod to this. "And - you're a vampire? So -?"

"Oh, I get it, I get it! And since I lost my mutant powers before I ran into one of Dracula's brat boys, how can I...?" Jubilee went on in a joking manner. Relieved that he was able to fake his way out of that, especially as clumsy as he was in dealing with people, Ranma listened as the mutant vampire explained, "Well, uh..." Frowning slightly, she glanced over at Sango and asked, "Say, uh...did you tell him about Mitch's journey? About the Sounga and...?"

As Jubilee trailed off, Sango nodded. "We told him about how Sounga took Michiru to New York and how he had to travel to get back."

"Okay, great," Jubilee grinned, again baring her fangs. Seeming to realize this, she then faked a cough, covering her mouth, and then explained, "Anyway, sometime after Mitch landed in New York, he got kinda banged up in a fight with a creep by the name of Sabertooth." Wincing at this, Ranma groaned even as the mutant girl nodded. "Exactly. We had to take him back to the school for treatment. His Shikigami helped him pull through, but...it was still pretty nasty."

"I'll bet!" Ranma intoned, all-too familiar with alternates of Victor Creed and their legendary bloodlust. "But how'd you find Michiru in the first place?"

Jubilee opened her mouth to answer, but before she could speak, Michiru was heard saying, "Because I'm a mutant, like her and Laura."

Sensing a headache coming on, Ranma gave Michiru a strange look. "I - hold on! Did you just say -?!" the martial artist started, only to trail off as he struggled to process so much at once. "But - I thought your Shikigami powers were _magic!"_

"They are. But some mutant powers and bloodlines allow people to access and control magical powers," Michiru explained in a casual manner. "And since the Shikigami power is a bloodline trait...well..."

"So you have the X-gene, huh?" Ranma replied, to which Michiru nodded. "Whew...so I'm guessing that's how the X-Men found you."

"Got it in one!" Jubilee confirmed even as Michiru nodded. "Cerebro had a hard time locking onto Mitch at first - his magic really mucked up its systems - but we found him and got him back to the mansion for treatment." Nodding his comprehension, Ranma watched as the fanged girl directed a loving look at the Shikigami Ranger. "Anyway, he stayed with us for a while, and while he was with us, he heard about the problems me and X and some of the other students had. So Mitch, being Mitch, decided that he wanted to help."

Ranma gave Michiru a look, to which he gave a helpless shrug. "Restoring her powers wasn't all that hard, once Professor Xavier told me what the problem was," he modestly admitted. "But...I wasn't able to completely reverse the vampire transformation. The best I could do was modify the ichor in her bloodstream, make it similar to the blood of a half-vampire called Blade."

"So you were able to turn Jubilee into a Daywalker?!" Ranma gaped, becoming more and more impressed with Michiru's capabilities. For while he didn't know much about magic, he knew enough to realize that this was all high-level magic, beyond that of an average magician.

"Bingo!" Jubilee declared, grinning unabashedly. "I got all the perks, none of the weaknesses, I can enjoy a nice, sunny day on the beach, look myself in the mirror, and he even boosted my original powers while he was at it!"

Getting the feeling he knew what had enticed Jubilee into joining this odd harem, Ranma considered pressing Laura for some information, but then decided against it. Like most variants of X-23, she wasn't exactly talkative, and in all likelihood found discussing such private matters difficult and painful. So he decided to move on. "Well, thanks, Jubilee," Ranma said before looking about. "So, uh...is that everyone?"

"Not quite," Michiru announced, still looking a bit sheepish. "Lena's on her way up with Nefertina. They and Bigfoot just got back after doing some remote readings of the area. And some of the others are out helping to secure the area."

Staggered by the size and nature of this harem and starting to wonder how Michiru kept up with all these women, Ranma paused to shake his head wearily. "This is some team you've got," he muttered. "So you've got a Bigfoot on your team, huh?" Michiru gave a nod to this. "And what's she like?"

"He," intoned X-23. Starting at this, Ranma gave the mutant a look, who reiterated. "Bigfoot. He's a he."

Again, Ranma was surprised. In all his time dealing with the various crazy harems, including his own, he had found it very rare for there to be more than one male involved with all the ladies. "Uh...o-kaaaay..." he intoned, getting the feeling he was missing something. "So what's _he _like?"

"Big, tough, competitive, and...hmm..." Trailing off into a thoughtful smile, Michiru then said, "Actually, I think it would be easier if you just met him."

Now certain that he was missing out on some kind of joke, Ranma considered the matter for a time before shrugging. "Okay, sure," he replied, deciding that it wasn't important enough to pursue at the moment. "Anyway, uh...you mentioned a Nefertina, right?" Michiru again nodded. "And...isn't that the name of one of those mummies that's alive?"

"That's right. She's a mummy," Angela confirmed before glancing over at Michiru. "I still wish you hadn't let her come with us on this, though."

"I _tried _to talk her into staying at home, remember?" Michiru countered with a hapless shrug. "But you know how she - or any of the rest of you - gets once she makes up her minds about something!"

"That's true," Sango nodded as the other girls tittered.

"Wait a minute, why would you want one of your team to stay at home?" Ranma frowned, not liking the sound of this. "Is something wrong with her."

"Not exactly," Kirara intoned, a feline grin on her face. "But she _is_ close to term, so naturally, we're all concerned about her."

As these words lodged in Ranma's brain, he felt his eyes bulge in surprise. "Wait a second...close to term?" he repeated, certain that he had heard them wrong. But when a couple of the girls nodded, he gave Michiru a look of patent disbelief. "You mean - she's _pregnant?!"_

As Michiru's cheeks colored, Laura gave Ranma a somewhat snarky look. "Yes. She's expecting some time this or next week."

Blinking several times in rapid succession, Ranma then issued a heavy groan. "Okay. I _know _that I'm gonna regret asking this, but since I feel like I'm already going nuts, I'm gonna do it anyway." The pigtailed man then heaved a deep breath before demanding, _"How the hell did you manage to IMPREGNATE a WALKING DEAD PERSON?!"_

"Mr. Saotome, _please!"_ Ilyssa hissed out, shooting him a poisonous look. As Ranma met this glare, she added, "I'm trying to track the source of the PKE energy and determine the exact nature of this manifestation! I need to _concentrate!"_

Groaning at this, Ranma was about to respond when Ilyssa turned back to her workstation. "Sorry," Jubilee smiled helplessly. "Ilyssa gets kinda intense when she's at work."

Deciding that he couldn't blame her for this, especially since she was working on finding the source of anomaly that could bring about the end of the world as they knew it, Ranma then returned to the previous topic. "Okay, but that doesn't answer my question," he grumbled, eyeing Michiru dangerously. "How did you manage to turn a _mummy _into a _mommy?!"_

Groaning as he was once again put on the spot, Michiru rubbed the back of his head for a time. "Uh, well, you see...she's not _exactly _a mummy. Not anymore," he explained in an evasive manner. "You see, I...I sort of..."

"He sort of brought her back to life," came another, snarky voice, one that Ranma didn't recognize. "Mitch, we are in _serious _trouble."

Looking about, Ranma realized that it was Charmcaster who had spoke. No longer did magical forces radiate and surround her, and a worried expression marked her face. "What did you learn from your astral incantation?" Michiru wondered even as she approached. "Did you find out who or what we're dealing with?"

"He brought her back to life?" Ranma repeated, not sure that he had heard this correctly.

"No. But I _can _tell you that things are even worse than we realized," Charmcaster gravely intoned. Gesturing at the computer screen before Ilyssa, the young sorceress explained, "There's an incredibly intense buildup of mana occurring here, but the mana seems to have multiple sources."

"Multiple sources?" Michiru repeated with a distinct frown. "So more than one creature is involved in this?"

"He can _seriously _bring the dead...back to life?" Ranma intoned, still trying to get this reality sorted out in his head. "How the heck does he do _that?!"_

"Well, like he said, it really wasn't all that hard," Angela assured him with a look of knowing sympathy. "Nefertina's body was already being animated by Egyptian magic. And her mind and soul were already bonded to it."

Nodding, Jubilee went on to say, "Yeah, so it was just a matter of reconstituting some of the cells in her body, and -"

"Yes, but it's more than that," Charmcaster explained, raising her voice over the others' chatter and shooting them a look of annoyance before continuing. "Some of the mana, the mana that set the increase in spiritual energy in motion, is of this world, or at least, is tied to the Earthly realm in some way. But the rest of it..."

"It's coming from someplace else?" Michiru gathered. Then he frowned, and asked, "Or...some _places?!"_

"Huh?!" Ranma got out amid the confused noises of the rest of Michiru's team.

Her eyes narrowing somewhat, Charmcaster murmured, "So...you sense it, too?"

Pressing his lips together, Michiru replied, "I might not have the years of experience you have, Hope, but...I can still sense the abnormalities in the forces of nature. I was hoping that I was just anxious or that it was just the mana being more chaotic than usual...but..."

"Wait a minute, what are you two talking about?" Ranma wondered with a distinct scowl. "I might not know anything about magic, but I know enough to know something _bad _when I hear it!"

Frowning, Michiru glanced at Charmcaster, who nodded softly. Taking this as a cue, the Shikigami Ranger turned back to Ranma and explained, "According to Hope, something - some power here on Earth - is exerting tremendous amounts of spiritual energy to weaken the barriers that keep the different dimensions apart. And at the same time, something on the other side of the barrier is trying to breach it. Trying to break through to us."

"Yeah, I got that part," Ranma nodded somewhat impatiently. "So...?"

"They're saying that it's not just one dimension that's trying to break through to our world," Ilyssa chimed in from her station.

His eyes widening in dismay, Ranma eyed Ilyssa with mounting horror. "Wait...you mean there's more than just one world trying to reach us here on Earth?!"

"Exactly," Charmcaster declared with a scowl that seemed more in keeping with variants of her. "I can't be sure how many worlds are trying to break through, not from here, but...I can definitely sense the mana of the Ghostworld, as well as other forms of mana. But the other portals are too far away for me to able to tell just how many worlds we're dealing with here."

Furrowing his brows, Ranma asked, "So...any idea how much longer we have until these worlds break through to ours?"

"I don't know. I've never dealt with these kind of energies before," Charmcaster admitted. "There's just so much going on that I can't make sense of it all."

"One thing's for sure; we don't have much time," Ilyssa declared with furrowed brows. "At the rate the PKE readings are rising, a cross-rip event is almost certainly immanent. Spirit activity is already rising at an exponential rate; we're already seeing an increased number of ghosts within the Manhattan area."

"Venkmen's gonna love all the overtime," Michiru noted in a semi-sarcastic manner. Then, pausing to take a deep breath and compose himself, he looked at Ranma. "Mr. Saotome, could you please relay our findings to Headquarters? You'd probably have easier time getting through the red tape than we would."

"Yeah, you got it," Ranma assured him.

"Hope, Ilyssa, keep track of this thing. Sango, Jubilee, Laura, you're with me. We need to get down to the garage, get our gear ready," Michiru ordered, making his way to the door. "Angela, Kirara, find Lena and Nerfertina. Get them back up here and tell them about what we found."

"What do you have in mind?" X-23 wondered, giving Michiru a stern look.

"It's like Hope said; something here in this world is generating the power that's weakening the dimensional membrane, allowing whatever's on the other to try and punch through to us." Michiru intoned in a grave manner. "So I'm betting that if we track down the source of that mana and shut it down, we might have a chance of cutting whatever's going on off before it can even start!"

* * *

><p>Author's Note: I've been reading Uruz 11's story, "Chronicles of the Shikigami Master: Part One", which features Michiru's adventures with the Ghostbusters, and I've been considering all the possibly ways such a journey could go afterwards. And so, when I heard about the Coreline challenge on DeviantArt for this month, "This Is Halloween", the nightmare factory that is my mind took these things, put them together, and went insane. So I decided it might be fun to a story featuring Michiru in the world of Coreline, long after his journey in "Chronicles" had been complete, now living with, not only Sango, but the various women that had fallen for him over the course of that journey.<p>

Keep in mind that this is my story, done without Uruz 11's input. I have no idea if the characters seen here will show up in his works. This is just me letting my brain go insane, and taking such a journey and going as far with the potential consequences of it as I can. And I can only hope that you all enjoy the results.

For those of you wondering what the heck Coreline is...well, here's the opening narration regarding this mega crossover, as written by Marcoasalazarm:

''It has been ten years since the end of the world as we knew it. A world-wide Internet infection by an unusual type of virus (called CLULESS) was the trigger. Reality was torn to bits, never to come back fully to normal.

90% of mankind vanished without a trace for 23 hours. The things we believed to be Fictional appeared in their stead. The battles that followed devastated the world.

And once the 23 hours ended, mankind came back, adapted to this new world, willing to embrace the Fictions with open arms... something that many of those who survived the "23 Hours of Madness" are not willing to accept, nor take lying down.

This is an Era of Badass. The Tropes mold your destiny. Out in the open and within the shadows, it is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny-Good versus Evil, Real versus Fiction, Canon versus Non-Canon, Rationality versus the Rule Of Cool, the final victor still undetermined.

No place is "safe", only "safer". And outside of it, there is a Multiverse and one timeline-the CORE timeLINE, "Coreline", "C-Line" or "The Line" for short-slowly going crazier.

We bid you welcome. Leave your sanity at the door. And for what's worth, enjoy your stay.''


	2. The Shandor Connection

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, any of the characters or concepts depicted here, or anything associated with them. I have written this story solely because I enjoy writing.

The Shikigami Ranger and the Monster Mashers

Chapter 2: The Shandor Connection

When Kirara had first bonded with the magical Saber-Toothed Tiger coin Michiru had found and modified with his magic, she had been amazed by the way it had so effortlessly interacted with her demonic powers. Not just granting her the lush humanoid form that she currently wore, but even augmenting her ultra-keen senses. Her night-vision was greatly augmented, her ears could discern a single conversation taking place on the other side of a big city, and her nose could ferret out the weakest of scents.

As a result, Kirara had distinguished herself as one of their team's trackers. She could effortlessly hunt down anyone, as long as she either had something to track them by or she already knew them. Which was why Michiru had sent her and Angela to find their wayward comrades, for even before they had left the Command Bridge, she had already honed in on their location.

"This way," Kirara declared tersely as she flew down one of the hallways, flames leaping from her legs, forearms, and tail. Angela was not far behind, the gargoyle having worked with the two-tail in the past and well accustomed to tracking down illusive quarry.

In this case, there was nothing illusive about the friends they were looking for. In almost no time at all, they found Nefertina staggering somewhat, the formerly undead woman's face creased with frustration and pain. Restored to true life, her skin was tan and healthy, and her hair was long and dark as night. She was clad in Ranger suit that mixed navy-blue with some gold and black, with a dark, cat-like helmet under her arm. The suit as a whole bore some resemblance to the magical armor she had once worn when she had been an undead guardian.

"Nefertina!" Angela called out, some alarm in her voice as she and Kirara approached. "Lena, is she okay?!"

A concerned hand on Nefertina's shoulder, Lena looked up. The southern woman looked much like a normal human, with black curly hair and brown eyes. And aside from the silver-blue Ranger uniform she wore, looked much like an ordinary woman. So much so that none would realize just by looking at her that, at one time, she had been cursed to turn into a monstrous were-cat on the night of the harvest moon, and compelled to drain the life from the living, turning them into undead horrors.

"I think so," Lena reported with a faint southern accent. "Tina just had another false alarm on the way in, that's all."

Kirara issued a mental groan at this. As Nefertina came closer to the day her children would enter the world, she had suffered several rounds of false labor pains that had resulted in both quick examinations from their resident medic, and angry exclamations from the mother-to-be. "Contractions?" Angela gaped in worry even as she gazed down at the mummy's bulging belly and the precious cargo within. "Are you _sure _that they were false?"

"I sure hope so!" Nefertina returned, sweat marking her features as she put on a brave face. "I don't care _how _badly these two bundles of joy want into this crazy world of ours, _now _is _not _a good time for it!"

"I know," Angela concurred as she moved up to their teammate's side. "Here, let me carry you. We need to get you back to the Command Bridge right away."

Not bothering to protest, the mummy allowed the gargoyle to pick her up bridal-style. "You never should have come with us, Nefertina," Kirara mildly scolded their comrade even as Angela started forward. "Your condition not only puts your life at risk, but those of the innocents who have yet to be born."

Darting a glance at Kirara, Nefertina retorted, "Look, I told you all once, and I'm gonna tell you again! There was _no way _I was gonna sit around at home, doing nothing, while the rest of you were putting your lives on the line for everyone here!"

"While I appreciate your devotion and determination, they may have been misplaced in this case," Kirara countered. "In your state -"

"In my state, I'm _still _the best driver and pilot you've got! So even if I can't fight, I can still do _that!"_ Nefertina broke in, refusing to be deterred. "I became a guardian of the pharaoh, knowing that I might die for it! And even if I don't have a pharaoh to serve, I still have the rest of you! So if there's anything I can do to help you all _and _this world, then that's what I'm gonna do!"

Kirara was unable to argue with this. In their own world, 3500 years ago, Nefertina had disguised herself as a man and had become both driver of the pharaoh's chariot and guardian of his son, knowing full well the dangers inherent to the job. And in the end, she had given her life in a vain attempt to save that son, and had been condemned to thousands of years of undead sleep, to being trapped in a time not her own, with no hope for a normal life. And still, she had never let anything get in the way of her duty.

"We all know that, Tina!" Lena assured her as she ran alongside of the rest of them. "But that doesn't mean we want you or your kids to get killed doing it!" Then a dark shadow appeared on her face, her eyes falling to the floor. "I've caused enough death in my life without it happening to you as well..."

This was painfully true, Kirara knew. In their own world, Lena had once been a settler on Moonscar Island in Louisiana, living with Simone Lenoir and the rest of a group worshippers of a cat god, when the pirate Morgan Moonscar had come to their island, and had forced all of the settlers, save for Lena and Simone, into the bayou where they had instantly been set upon by alligators. Driven mad by grief and the need for vengeance, Lena and Simone had invoked the power of the cat god, transforming them both into were-cats. Only to later find out that, in doing so, they had cursed themselves as well. Cursed themselves with animalistic need and hunger for the life energy of others that would come at the time of the harvest moon, condemning them to a life of horror, surrounded by the zombies that had been their victims.

That horror came to an end when Michiru's quest to return to Japan had taken him to Louisiana, where he had encountered the Mystery, Inc team. Hearing of Daphne's desire to find and film a house that was genuinely haunted, and tired and wanting for some company, he decided to take a break from his wandering and joined them for a time. And when the time came when Simone and Lena had tried to feed upon them, thanks to a timely distraction by Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, Michiru had been able to use his Shikigami and the magical knowledge he had gained previously to break the hold the cat god had upon the two women, enabling them to reclaim their lives and their souls.

Freed of the hunger inflicted upon them by the curse, both women had very nearly collapsed with relief, as well as sorrow and repulsion for what she had been for those past centuries, with Lena especially affected. And so, she had vowed to make amends for all the lives she had ended, and was making good on that vow as a member of their team.

"I hear you. Getting killed is pretty hard to live with," Nefertina replied in good humor. Then her expression sobered as she added, "But so is sitting around, knowing that the people you love could die while you do nothing. I _know _what it's like to fail someone I cared for. I _know _what it's like to be helpless to do anything to help my friends. And that's something I _never _want to feel again!"

As the four women continued their sprint, Kirara sighed inwardly. _I know that feeling all too well, Nefertina,_ she thought, recalling her own long life, the many human friends and companions she had had before becoming Sango's partner. The many times she had been helpless to prevent one from getting killed in the line of duty as a Demon Slayer, unable to even tell them how much she had loved each and every one of them before they died. _Believe me...I understand..._

* * *

><p>"So that's the situation, huh?" Misato grumbled, her image relayed to Ranma via the hologram being projected by his computerized bracelet. "Not only do we have someone or something on Earth wearing down the walls that keep this crazy world apart from everything else, but they've also invited guests from multiple dimensions to party here?"<p>

"That's what Ilyssa and Char- I mean, Hope, tell me," Ranma reported, glancing back at the two women, noting the unhappy look that his almost mentioning the name 'Charmcaster' had gotten him. "And if they're right, it won't be long before we start getting some _very _unwelcome guests." Not wanting to even think of the absolute disaster such an occurrence would be, the pigtailed man looked squarely at his wife. "How are things on your end, Misa-chan? Any news?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately, it's all bad," Misato reported with furrowed brows. "PKE readings are still going up. We've got massive temporal and dimensional warping at the Bermuda Triangle and so on, supernatural activity at lei line convergences is rising fast." Then her eyes narrowed with dangerous intensity. "On top of that, we've been reports from other Champions in the field, as well as other super teams. And while some of them are being a little hesitant...so far, most of them are falling in line with what you've just told me."

"Oh, great," Ranma groaned heavily. "So what exactly are we looking at? Any indication of what kind of party crashers we're looking at?"

"The end-of-the-world variety, of course," Misato muttered before looking at their Vision amalgam. "Yui? Give Ranma a quick rundown."

Nodding, the android variant of Yui Ikari intoned, "A division of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense report activity that would indicate the presence of the Ogdru Jahad. Dr. Stephen Strange at the Academy of Higher Magic reports that portals to the Dark Dimension are beginning to open, with Mindless Ones gathering to invade. Agent Venom Joey Wheeler reports sightings of creatures from the Shadow Realm. Miss Terrific of the Justice Society of America reports having fought a Shuggoth, a creature associated with Cthulu. Captain America Mari Illustrious Makinami and Thunderstrike Maria -"

"Okay, _okay! _I'm getting the big idea here!" Ranma groaned even more heavily. "Aw, dammit! If even _half _those creeps make their way here -!"

"It'll be the end of the world. And we _won't _be feeling fine," Misato declared with a heavy scowl.

Knowing this to be a major understatement, Ranma looked at the Vision amalgam and asked, "Yui, Hope said that the energy wearing down the barriers is coming from somewhere on Earth. Is there any chance you can get a lock on the source? Narrow down the places it might be? Give us _some_ clue where to look?!"

"Unfortunately, no," Yui returned in a solemn manner. "According to the data we're getting and the BPRD's satellite surveillance, there is no single source of the PKE activity responsible for the dimensional breakdown. It is manifesting in equal amounts at every location."

"Ranma, given the circumstances, I'm ordering you and all other Champions to initiate a systematic search of your assigned sectors," Misato ordered in a no-nonsense manner. "We have to find whatever force is weakening the dimensional walls and destroy it! Cut this off before it even starts!"

"Michiru's already getting his team and gear together to go to work on that, but I'll tell him," Ranma replied. "Listen, Misato - what about containment protocols? How are those going?"

"So far, so good. Reports indicate successful evacuation of several of the affected regions, and we're deploying teams to establish containment fields, mystical barriers, force fields, anything we can think of to keep anything that might get through penned up." But then Misato frowned sourly. "But I'm going to be honest with you, Ranma. Containment would be a temporary solution at best. And if these things come through en masse -"

"I know, I know. End of the world," Ranma assured her, finding himself longing for the good old days when the worst thing he had to worry about was Happosai and his dirty old man antics. "But...well, you said this team has Zords, right?" Misato gave a quick nod to this. "Well, if things start going south here, we might need to use them. And I'd feel a lot happier about that -"

"- if the civilian population was completely evacuated. Understood," Misato tersely nodded. "I'll have the other teams pick up the pace on the evacuation, and I'll be sure to let you know when it's been completed." Smiling his gratitude, Ranma listened as his wife added, "In the meantime, get that team mobilized and searching for the source of the trouble. I don't know how long we have before things start going to hell, but I'm betting it isn't long!"

"Ain't nobody stupid enough to take _that _bet! Ranma, out." As the hologram disappeared, the martial artist sighed before turning towards the women that remained with him. "Okay, I'm guessing you heard all that."

"It was kind of hard not to," Charmcaster informed him with a snarky smile.

"I'll contact Mitch, let him know our orders," Ilyssa stated from her station at the computer. "And see if he and the others have everything ready to go."

Nodding this, Ranma was about to say something more when the door to the Command Bridge opened, revealing a quartet of women. Two of them were Kirara and Angela, but the other two were unfamiliar. "Here you go, Nefertina," the gargoyle spoke in a soft voice even as she assisted the visibly pregnant woman she carried to a nearby chair. "Might as well as make yourself comfortable."

"Might as well," replied the woman who, aside from her Egyptian-styled costume, bore absolutely no resemblance at all to a living mummy. "But, uh...would you mind pushing me over to the control console we rigged up? So I can...?"

"Of course," Angela returned in a pleasant manner.

Even as Angela wheeled the chair and the woman towards a nearby computer station, Ranma gave her a thoughtful look. "So that's Nefertina, huh?" he gathered, shaking his head in amazement. "She sure don't look old enough to be a _mommy,_ let alone a _mummy!"_

"Why, thank you!" Nefertina retorted in a playful manner resembling Misato's. "But I'm not a mommy - not quite yet, anyway!"

Chuckling despite the situation, Ranma looked at the other stranger of this crew. "And I'm guessing you're Lena."

"That's right," Lena nodded with a pleasant smile. "You must be Mr. Saotome. Kirara mentioned that you'd arrived."

"She _also _mentioned how bad this mess has gotten!" Nefertina added from her seat. "So what's the plan?"

"I'll tell you as soon as somebody patches me into Michiru. I'm sure the leader of this team would like to know what his orders are," Ranma decided, giving Ilyssa a look.

Nodding, Ilyssa quickly worked the keyboard of her computer. "Mitch? Can you hear me?"

"Sure, Ilyssa," Michiru's voice sounded over an intercom. "What is it?"

"Mr. Saotome told Headquarters about what's going on," Ilyssa tersely replied. Then she looked back at Ranma said, "Go ahead."

Nodding, Ranma hurriedly explained just how bad things were getting, and how fast it was happening. As the girls that were late in arriving looked on, their faces falling in concerned horror, the martial artist concluded with, "So we have to find whatever's causing the problem, but unfortunately, Headquarters can't give us any leads. Meaning that we're gonna have to search Manhattan, maybe even all of New York, if we're gonna find what's causing this. And we're gonna have to look _fast!"_

"I see," Michiru returned, his voice grave. "Well, we've got all our gear ready. We've equipped all our vehicles with PKE meters and some other sensory equipment, and we've got similar equipment integrated into our uniforms. And we've already made adjustments to our weapons, upgrading them with Ghostbusters-based equipment and extra magic to make them more effective on supernatural threats. So I guess we're as ready to move out as we'll ever be."

"Then you better move out soon! And by that, I mean _right now!"_ Ranma ordered the Shikigami Ranger.

"Okay. Then listen up, team; this is what we're gonna do," Michiru ordered, his voice hardening with authority. "Nefertina, you're staying here with Mr. Saotome. You two will be mission control. Stay in contact with everyone, and keep us up to date on anything that happens." A beat passed before the Shikigami Ranger made a sheepish noise in his throat. "That is, sir...if you don't..."

Chuckling over Michiru's humiliation at belatedly realizing that he was trying to order around his boss, Ranma replied, "I don't mind, Mitch. I sure ain't cut out for picking a fight with ghosts and whatever, so I might as well make myself useful some other way."

A sigh of relief was heard just before Michiru said, "Thank you, sir. Anyway, Ilyssa, Hope? You two are best suited to tracking down the source of this thing, so you're going to be working with Bigfoot as our main search unit. I'm counting on you to coordinate all the information we get from the rest of the team. PKE spikes, energy anomalies, mana levels, all of it. Anything we can use to help find whatever's causing this."

"Of course. We'll do everything can, Mitch," Ilyssa assured him even as Charmcaster nodded.

"Everyone else, I need you to get out there and start tracking this thing down," Michiru ordered them. "Everyone who can fly will search from the air. The rest of you, take the Jet Cycles. They're already fitted with PKE meters and have had their systems upgraded for fighting ghosts and more."

"Understood, Michiru," Kirara nodded along with the other girls.

"Nefertina, I need you to contact everyone that's already out in the field. Tell them their new orders," Michiru informed her. "And Mr. Saotome...be sure to let us know as soon as the evacuation is complete. If things get bad..."

"Then you'll want to be ready for it. No problem," Ranma assured him.

"Thanks." A beat passed, then Michiru added in a solemn voice, "Just...everyone? Whatever happens...please stay safe."

As the girls nodded somewhat, Ranma sighed. _I wish I could be sure that staying safe was an option..._

* * *

><p>As much as she appreciated Michiru's kind sentiment, Nefertina knew all too well that, when you put your life on the line for others, staying safe was never really an option. And she had no doubt that he knew this as well.<p>

_But...still, I can't blame him for worrying,_ Nefertina thought as she geared up for the duty assigned to her. _Ra knows I'm scared for...pretty much the _entire world_ right now!_ Then the former undead looked about as her close friends left the Command Bridge, setting out to do the jobs that they had been tasked with, she sighed. _Though to be honest...I'm scared for my team most of all..._

It had been traumatic experience for everyone when they had been ripped from the world of their origins and deposited on this strange mish-mash of a world that was known as Coreline. Of being strangers in a strange place, with nothing of their previous lives but the clothes on their backs, a few odds and ends...and each other. Of being forced to rely on each other, depend on each other to survive and build new lives

It was an experience that Nefertina could well relate to...since she had already suffered it herself.

The day she had died had started out in such an ordinary fashion that Nefertina could never have foreseen what was about to happen to her. She had been driving Prince Rapses in the pharaoh's chariot, Rath had been teaching the prince his lessons with Armon training him in the way of the warrior. Ordinary, everyday stuff for her...that had quickly gone horribly rong when the beast known as Scarab had lured the prince away, to use his soul as fodder to grant him immortality, and to secure his position as the next pharaoh.

Led by Ja-Kal, she, Armon, and Rath had followed to protect Rapses, only to fall prey to Scarab's larger forces and the treachery of Ja-Kal's brother, Arakh. And in the end, they had failed to save the prince, failed to exact revenge on Scarab.

Failed...to save themselves.

Nefertina could still remember the thoughts she had had as she had lay dying on the sands of Egypt. She remembered saying goodbye to the life she had had, to the few friends she made. Cursing the fact that she had been forced to disguise herself as a boy, just to be a member of pharaoh's guardians. And preparing herself for the existence she knew she would be remade for; to protect Prince Rapses in his next incarnation...just before she fell into darkness.

For 3,500 years, Nefertina had slept in her sarcophagus, odd dreams pursuing her in her undead sleep. And when she had finally awoke in the modern age of her world, she found Scarab once again menacing her prince, reincarnated in Presley Carnovan. And once more, she had her duty to protect the prince. She had the chance to defeat Scarab. She had her fellow guardians.

She had had these things...and almost nothing else.

Though her body was animate, Nefertina had remained dead. She could never have any children of her own, no family, no nothing. She was an undead remnant of a fallen dynasty, a stranger in a strange land, who could not expect to have any form of relationship with anyone from the modern world. No other meaning to her existence than to protect a young boy. And though she was able to take some pleasure in her existence with wild driving and dancing and other pleasures, teasing and joking away her inner torment...those things persisted. Eating away at her soul, gnawing at her every day.

Then, one day, an odd young man from a far away land came to San Francisco in the midst of his journey home. He had been on a quest to return home with a deadly cursed sword that he could not risk leaving alone, lest it escape it's containment vessel. A young man by the name of Michiru Kururugi, who had gotten caught up one of the many battles the mummies had fought in their constant struggle with Scarab, and had immediately proven himself to be a formidable warrior in his own right.

After the battle, when Nefertina and the others had revealed their true natures to him, he had not been afraid or repulsed by the undead natures. Merely surprised and curious. And so, they had gotten to know each other, with Ja-Kal even allowing him to be brought back to their home. Presley had explained to Michiru about the mummies and his situation, while Michiru explained to them his quest to return home and have the Sounga destroyed. A quest that he agreed to put on hold, because he felt that there was a way that he could help the mummies in their own battle. Which turned out to be something of an understatement.

By the time he had met the mummies, Michiru had already greatly increased his own powers. During his adventure with the gargoyles of Manhattan, he had absorbed all the magical knowledge and power of the Grimorum Arcanorum. He had already gathered the Power Coins and had regenerated and improved the White Tiger Coin, allowing him to become the Shikigami Ranger. He had mastered the skills needed to travel through time and space, with only the subdued evil of the Sounga preventing him from using such magic to simply return home. He had done these things, mastered these skills, and more.

And it was these abilities that, with Rath's assistance, had allowed him to travel through space and time back to ancient Egypt, to covertly obtain blood samples from the four of them when they had still lived and breathed, blood samples that had become the catalyst for a spell that would bring them back to true life. It was these skills that had allowed Michiru to learn of what had happened to Ja-Kal's lost family, and even collect pictures and provide her friend with knowledge of their fates. And once she and her friends had been restored, once again felt their hearts beating in their chests, were truly alive once more, Michiru had given them further assistance by creating a new set of Power Coins that he and Rath used to augment their amulets. As a result, the former mummies obtained far greater powers and weapons. And with the help of the Shikigami Ranger, they had not only succeeded in banishing Scarab beyond the Western Gate for all time, but using their fallen foe's resources to give them new lives in the modern world.

_I still remember how happy Ja-Kal looked when he and Presley's mother got hitched!_ Nefertina thought, recalling that joyous day when her friend had found a new life, and a new family to call his own. Of the news that Amanda was carrying Ja-Kal's child. Of how Rath and Armon had been building their own lives, even dating and more. Then she gave a soft, sad smile. _Of course, the guy _I'd_ fallen for was trying to get back to the girl he'd first fallen in love with..._

"Nefertina?" came a voice, startling the former mummy out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" Nefertina started, only to look about and see that Ranma was the one speaking. "Oh, sorry! Just...thinking, that's all." Knowing how lame an excuse this was even as she spoke it, the former mummy got to work. "Okay, time to get to work!" Rapidly working the control console, she contacted one of her closest friends in their crazy little family of Champions. "Come in, Bigfoot! Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, little darling!" an electronically distorted voice with a distinct southern drawl.

"I hope you're ready to get rolling, big guy!" Nefertina informed him. "Because it looks like we're in for some heavy action!"

"Hey, heavy action is my _favorite_ kind, Tina girl!" Bigfoot returned in a jovial manner.

"Sounds like you two get along pretty well," Ranma noted from his position at Nefertina's side.

Glancing over at the pigtailed man, Nefertina considered him for a time, wondering if he had realized just what kind of monster Bigfoot was. "Oh, yeah, me and Bigfoot are real close," she replied, deciding to have some fun to distract herself a bit. "I have to say, out of all the folks who joined our little family of misfits since we landed here, he's _definitely _my favorite!"

"Aw, sweetheart! Back right 'atcha!" Bigfoot returned in a flattered manner. "Say, when are those little bundles of joy you're carrying gonna arrive? It feels like it's been for-_ever_ since you've had your hands on me!"

"Soon, I hope!" Nefertina assured him. "Though I _would _prefer it if they at least wait until _after_ we've saved the world!"

"I heard _that!"_ Bigfoot sounded."I - oops! Here comes the rest of the gang now!"

Taking note of the way Ranma looked between her and the console that had carried Bigfoot's voice, Nefertina listened as he asked, "Whew...sounds like you two are more than friends..."

Noting the way Ranma said this, Nefertina gave him a coy look. "Tell me something; have you actually met Bigfoot yet?"

"Nope," Ranma returned. "Haven't had the chance."

Her hunch all but confirmed, Nefertina smiled in a teasing manner. "Well, let me tell you something; all the girls on this team _love_ Bigfoot. Heck, if not for Mitch, we'd be all over him _all _the time..."

Smiling in a knowing manner, Ranma asked, "Well, I hope that Mitch isn't the jealous type."

"Oh, no. You don't have to worry about that." A beat passed before Nefertina added, "Say, I know! Why don't I bring up the exterior camera? That way, you'll be able to see Bigfoot and the others when they come out?"

"Sure, why not?" Ranma decided.

Smiling as she anticipated the surprise that she suspected Ranma was about to get, Nefertina worked the console, bringing up a holographic display of a view from outside their temporary headquarters. With a little adjustment, she was able to focus on the main garage. "Okay, Tina, Mitch is just about to hit the Game Start for this mission!" Bigfoot enthusiastically announced. "So why don't you take control and set us into hyperdrive?"

"My pleasure, big guy!" Nefertina declared, already reaching for a nearby joystick.

"Huh?" Ranma started, plainly confused by Bigfoot's words. "Take control? Hyperdrive?"

"You'll see," Nefertina assured him as she brought up a feed from a different camera on her central monitor, this tone situated in the garage. From there, she could see Michiru and some of the girls standing by, while others were mounted on their Jet Cycles. And most importantly, she could see it when the garage door opened. "Okay, big guy! It's game time!"

"Music to my ears, sweetheart!" Bigfoot replied, his voice echoed by the sound of a powerful engine revving. As Nefertina worked the joystick, watching the main monitor, the holographic display showed several members of her strange band of friends and family spilling out of the building, followed by...

"What the -?!" Ranma started, his eyes bulging at what he saw. "Is that - a _monster truck?!"_

"Nope! That's _the _monster truck!" Nefertina teasingly informed him. "Ranma Saotome, meet Bigfoot!"

Even as Nefertina watched, Bigfoot rolled out of the garage on his massive tires, his blue paint job showing cleanly even as the day slowly shifted to night, with his name spelled out clearly on his doors. Having originated from a world where video game characters had somehow emerged into the real world, this version of the famous monster truck was not only alive in his own right, but fully sentient, and capable of astonishing things, especially since he had been thoroughly upgraded by the Foundation, who had plenty of experience with intelligent vehicles. And the moment, Bigfoot was also sporting a massive proton cannon and a version of the Ghostbuster's Super Slammer in his flatbed.

"Bigfoot is a monster truck?!" Ranma demanded, having plainly been caught flatfooted. "Seriously?!"

"Well, sure!" Nefertina replied in a jovial way. "What, don't tell me you never heard of him?"

"I - well, I've _heard _of the _truck_ Bigfoot!" Ranma intoned, clearly realizing that he had been taken for a ride and not liking it. "But - well, I thought that when people told me that there was a Bigfoot on your team...!"

"You thought they were talking about some big, hairy guy? Is that it?" Nefertina asked in a dangerously sweet manner, milking this for everything she could.

Flustered with embarrassment and annoyance, Ranma was clearly struggling to respond, but before either of them could say anything, Michiru's voice was again. "Okay, everyone! Hope and Ilyssa have assigned all of us a section of Manhattan to search!" announced the Shikigami Ranger as he took the front position. "Stay in contact at all times, and stay on the alert! We're liable to have a fight on our hands before this night's done!"

"Don't worry about us, Michiru," came Sango's voice even as the gamma-powered Demon Slayer approached him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We know what we have to do."

A beat passed as Michiru looked at Sango, his helmet obscuring his face, but his voice conveying his concern as he said, "But that's the thing, Sango; I _always _worry. About _all _of you." Pausing to survey everyone present, the Shikigami Ranger sighed. "Alright, let's do it. Phoenix Battlizer, _activate!"_

"Huh?!" Ranma started at this, staring in surprise as the pentagram inscribed on the golden disk in her armor glowed a brilliant crimson, releasing crimson light that washed over his Ranger outfit. And as he watched, that light solidified, encasing Michiru's chest in mechanical armor of crimson and gold. Gauntlets and boots of a similar nature appeared on his lower legs and forearms, as well as golden armbands about her biceps. Mechanical wings of fiery red with golden feathers spread forth from his back, and a crest like the head of a bird appeared on top of his helmet.

As Ranma tried to digest what had happened, Michiru gave one final look at the group of misfits that was his loved ones. "Good luck, all of you." And with that, the Shikigami Ranger launched himself into the air, followed shortly by the other flight-capable members of his team.

"Wait a second...I thought that Michiru only had the powers of the first White Ranger..." Ranma muttered, not liking the fact that he had again taken by surprise.

"Sure, he did. At first," Nefertina confirmed. "But when he figured out how to make Power Coins of his own, he made three more for himself."

Glancing over at the former mummy, Ranma repeated, "Three more?!"

"Sure. He was still hauling the Sounga around at the time, and when he realized that his White Tiger coin gave him added resistance to it, he decided to make more for himself," Nefertina explained in a tone like this was something anybody should know. "So he made the Crimson Phoenix, Azure Dragon, and Black Tortoise Power Coins to go with the White Tiger Coin."

"Crimson Phoenix, Azure Dragon, and...hey! As in Suzaku, Seiryu, and Genbu?! The celestial beasts?!" Ranma demanded.

"That's right. Mitch originally took the White Tiger Coin because, as it turns out, those celestial beasts are powerful elements in his Shikigami magic," Nefertina explained. "He had repowered the White Tiger Coin by using the power of Byakko, so he created the other three Coins by using the magic of the other three celestial beasts."

Pausing to consider this, Ranma then asked, "So...while the White Tiger Coin gives him his costume and stuff..."

"He can access the other three Coins for extra powers, armor, and weapons. You got it." Nefertina then gave Ranma a teasing look. "What's wrong? You _did_ read our files...didn't you?"

Making a face like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Ranma finally folded his arms across his chest and scowled, "Hey, in case you haven't noticed, we've had a major crisis on our hands! So I've been kinda busy, okay?!"

"Whatever you say, sir," Nefertina replied even as she returned her focus to the situation outside. As she watched, the rest of their team either flew up into the air or took off on their Jet Cycles. "Okay, Bigfoot, it's your turn! Time to roll!"

"My pleasure, sweetheart!" Bigfoot responded. _"Nobody_ jams the joystick of this monster truck like _you _do, Tina!"

Glancing over at Ranma, who was groaning over the implications of that statement, Nefertina remarked, "You say such sweet things!" Pausing to chuckle at this, the former mummy asked, "Just be sure to kick some serious Tut for me, okay?"

"You got it, Tina!" Bigfoot promised as she worked the controls and sent him rolling off into the big city.

* * *

><p>As Michiru soared through the air, born on the wings of his Phoenix Battlizer Armor, he was constantly reaching out with his Shikigami to the forces of nature and supernatural forces surrounding him, while at the same time consulting the PKE readout displayed via his helmet's HUD. Searching the rapidly darkening island of Manhattan for any significant rise in the destructive powers tearing down the membranes between the worlds, all the while wondering if he would ever become accustomed to the constant insanity that was the world he and his loved ones had been deposited in.<p>

_I knew I could pretty much forget about ever having a truly normal life when I discovered my Shikigami powers,_ Michiru knew, shaking his head slightly as he tried to make sense of the sensations and readings he was picking up. _But...this place...it's beyond insane! Beyond anything I could have imagined!_

This was true enough. And after everything Michiru had been through, he could imagine a great deal.

After his first adventure in the Feudal Era, Michiru had focused on studying his family's legacy, on developing his Shikigami powers so that he could return to the Feudal Era and once again be with his friends, and most especially Sango, the woman he had first fallen in love with. And in a very real way, he honestly thought that would what his life would be like from then on. Studying magic, using that power to help others, be with his friends, and so on. Maybe even take on a costume or do something of that nature. Use his powers to help others. And perhaps, if he had been truly fortunate...become Sango's husband.

But life had not been nearly so accommodating. During his reunion with InuYasha and Kagome after they had returned from the Feudal Era, Michiru had been luckless enough to take hold of the cursed sword after Kagome's grandfather found it. The evil sword Sounga had tried to take over Michiru's mind, and through an incredible fluke that he still wasn't sure he understood, had teleported himself all the way from Japan to New York City, landing right in front of the Ghostbusters' Headquarters of his world. And as strange as that had been, it had only been the start of an unbelievable adventure.

Right after Michiru had helped the Ghostbusters defeat Ivo Shandor and had started trying to make his way back home, he had encountered a strange knight wearing armor that made him look like a gargoyle. Though this had been bizarre in and of itself, this encounter had resulted in Michiru winding up with the mighty gargoyle warrior Goliath, his human love Elisa Maza, and his bestial pet Bronx on a journey that took them to the mystical island of Avalon. There he had helped the Avalon clan of gargoyles fight against the Weird Sisters and the malicious Archmage. During the climactic battle, Michiru had managed to get hold of the magical Phoenix Gate, a window through time and space which he had used to travel back to the year 975 to Castle Wyvern, where he had had the opportunity to copy an intact version of the Grimorum Arcanorum, the most comprehensive book of mortal spells in existence, and then, through the power of his Shikigami, absorb all of the magical knowledge contained within.

The instant he had done so, Michiru felt like he was would explode through the shear amount of magical power that the knowledge contained within the Grimorum had unleashed within him. It had increased the power of his Shikigami tenfold, and had given him access to magical knowledge that was beyond his wildest dreams. And with this newfound might and the aide of the Phoenix Gate, Michiru had been able to return to the Isle of Avalon, help Goliath in defeating the Archmage once and for all, and even save the life of the critically injured and dying Magus.

For a short time after that, Michiru had journeyed together with Goliath, Elisa, Bronx, and Goliath's daughter, Angela, in an amazing adventure that took them across the world, but never back home. It wasn't until they had returned to New York that Michiru had been able to continue his own quest to get back to Japan, a quest that soon after had resulted in him encountering the uncanny X-Men.

From then on, Michiru's journey had been one extraordinary adventure after another. Each one of them pushing his limits in some form or another, and at the same time, demanding that he develop his power, physical, mental, and magical, to new levels for him to have any hope of returning to Japan. He had used the Power Coins and knowledge left behind by Zordon to become the Shikigami Ranger, battled alongside the likes of the Optimus Prime of his world, worked with Ben 10 and his friends and even an enemy to save another world, crushed the evil Scarab alongside the mummies, and had helped topple despots, tyrants, murderers, and other evils, all in his quest to get back home.

_And it felt like every single step along the way...I ran into a girl that fell in a love with me! Sometimes more than one!_ Michiru thought, still recalling how he had been effectively double-teamed by Jubilee and X-23, among others. _I don't think I'll ever figure out how _that _happened. I...all I ever did was try and help people. Be kind to them, help them with...whatever problems they had. Treat them the way I'd want to be treated._ Giving a slow shake of his head, he then thought, _Is compassion and kindness...are those things so rare that...just me doing that was enough?_

Apparently, it was, because to Michiru's considerable dismay, he had wound up leaving a trail of broken hearts all along the way, racking up a serious case of guilt in the process. And in the end, it had been a considerable relief when he had finally been able to return home to Japan, and once again be in Sango's arms.

Of course, even then, his troubles had not been over. Michiru and his friends had soon become embroiled in one of the mad schemes of the criminal genius, the Leader, resulting in Sango becoming a hulk-like gamma mutant and forcing him and his friends to work with modern heroes to take him down, while returning Sango to the Feudal Era, lest she be taken into custody on account of how dangerous she had become. And just when he and his friends helped the Demon Slayer tame the beast within, Naraku had announced his resurrection, forcing them to kill their demonic foe all over again.

_To be honest, though, I think Naraku might have _stayed _dead if he'd known what he'd be in for when we found him!_ Michiru thought, suffering a moment of satisfaction as he recalled what had happened when the gamma-mutated Sango, her considerable might increased even more by the Green Dragon Power Coin, wrapped her hands around him and used his spine as a squeeze toy. _I don't think I'd ever heard InuYasha laugh as hard as he did then!_

With Naraku finally banished to the depths of hell by their combined efforts, with not even the slightest chance of him ever coming back to torment them, and Sango having declared that Michiru was the one she loved, the Shikigami Ranger had really and truly thought the chaos of his life would soon be a thing of the past. And to celebrate Sango accepting his engagement ring, Michiru had decided to throw an engagement party, and invited the friends he had encountered along his incredible journey.

The result had been a gala event beyond anything Japan had ever seen, filled with good food and cheer, marred only by some lingering sadness by the women that had fallen for him over the course of his journey, as well a hint of good-natured jealousy over Sango's good fortune. But Michiru had been heartened by how well all of those women had gotten along with the Demon Slayer, so well that they had decided throw her their own celebration. A kind of bachelorette party in anticipation of her eventual union with Michiru.

It had all been so perfect. Sango and all of the others had had a great time. Michiru was relieved and delighted that they held no ill will and were wishing them well. And when Sango had invited him over to see them and accept their kindness, he had been so certain the chaos of his life was at an end, and that he could move on to being a happily married man with Sango. Perhaps forming a crime-fighting duo with her as they built their future.

And it had been at that exact moment that they had somehow been ripped away from their world, their entire reality, and deposited in the world that was Coreline. Michiru, along with Sango and all of the rest of the women that still loved him.

When they had arrived in the Coreline, they had all had next to nothing. They had had the clothes on their backs, and thanks to the pocket dimensions that Michiru had been able to create with the Power Coins, those with Morphers still had their Zords. But aside from that, they had been left with nothing, and had been forced to start over from scratch. And save for some support from the world government in dealing with such situations, all they had had to depend on...was each other.

_And the rest, as they say, is history,_ Michiru thought, recalling the many trials and tribulations they had all been through ever since. Starting with how they had come to become a branch of the superhero team known as the Champions.

On one level, Michiru knew that they had been very fortunate, even in their misfortune in being brought to this world. When they had been processed by the government shortly after their arrival, like so many others that had been somehow dragged to the bizarre world that was the Core Timeline, the people in charge of their registration had been quick to take notice of the extraordinary special abilities wielded by both the Shikigami Ranger and the women that had come with him, and notify Stingray Industries of this particular bunch of newcomers to their world. Even as they were being assigned temporary lodgings, Sylvia Stingray had sent a representative to tell them about the Champions, a group of superheroes that were sponsored and funded by Stingray Industries. All they had to do was sign up with them, and they would not only have paying jobs and a proper home to live in, but Stingray Industries would also upgrade the Zords and maintain them, give Michiru and the others full financial support, and the opportunity to build a future and to make use of the unique gifts each and every one of them had for the benefit of others.

It hadn't taken long for Michiru and the others to agree to this. They had nothing and nowhere else to go, and this was a chance to make new lives for themselves in this bizarre new reality. And while there were things about Sylvia Stingray and her company that they weren't particularly pleased with, like being contractually obligated to protect Stingray Industries' holdings first and foremost, it had been a good life. And in a way, what Michiru had hoped for back in their previous world.

But even though they had a form of income and a new home in the form of a good-sized apartment building, that didn't mean that there weren't other challenges. Michiru and the others still carried with them the grief and pain of losing so much, the knowledge that there were so many people that they would never see again. And as they dealt with these things and the challenges of Coreline, their own lives continued to change and evolve. The way their relationships had changed and developed, all of them forced by necessity to become even closer than ever, even meeting new friends and incorporating other lost souls that had suffered the same fate as they into their little group.

_So now, instead of relatively normal life and marriage back home,_ Michiru thought,_ I've got a harem that would make Miroku split himself in envy, and I'm living in a world that is the definition of Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition._

Pausing in his search to indulge in a somewhat self-pitying sigh, Michiru paused to think of the many difficulties this existence presented with him. Keeping up with the many loves of his life was far from easy, and had required no small effort on his part. And though he had found a way of using low levels of continuous power from the Power Coins to permanently increase his physical and magical potential, as well as techniques and magical spells that had increased his strength, speed, endurance, stamina, and more far beyond a normal human, it was still hard to give each and every one of his loves the time and attention that they deserved.

_And it's only going to get harder,_ Michiru knew painfully well. _Sango's twins are less than a year old! And I know she wants to have more children of her own!_ Grateful beyond belief that they had been able to suppress the gamma mutation that had been passed on to the twins, thus sparing them from dealing with a couple gamma-powered babies and the potential destruction they could unwittingly unleash, he then thought of some of his other loves._ And Angela, she already has a couple eggs in the rookery we built for her at home! Nefertina's going to give birth any day now, and all of the others, they've made it clear that they want children of their own as well! And - even after learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu and adapting it to my Shikigami magic, I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up with all of that!_

Again, Michiru, wondering how it had come to that, for there had been a time when Sango would have been disgusted by the notion of being part of a harem, and would never have gone along with what she was doing now. And though there had never been any doubt that he had cared for all of the women that had fallen for him, and had even been attracted to them, Michiru had still thought of them as friends. But now...

_But it was easy to think of them as friends back then,_ Michiru reminded himself. _After all, I never stayed in one place very long. I was able to build friendships with them, but I knew I would have to leave, sooner or later. Knew nothing could come of what of it beyond friendship, and besides, I'd already fallen in love with Sango._ Then he scowled as he thought of another factor. _Besides, after doing everything I'd done - buying an engagement ring for Sango, telling her my feelings...I'd have been cheating on her!_

Things had changed drastically once they had arrived in the world of Coreline, and on more than one level. No longer was he under pressure to continue a journey and leave any of the girls behind; now they were all under pressure to rebuild their lives, and he knew that he would not abandon any of them. Where before there wasn't much time to build on their friendships, every day in Coreline had resulted in his relationships with them deepening, becoming stronger, bringing him closer to each and every one of them. And before he knew it, innocent attractions became serious temptations, and formerly minor incidents became serious threats to his fidelity. And more and more, his sense of right and wrong was tested.

Michiru had never stopped loving Sango. If anything, he had come to love her even more since their arrival in this world. But that wasn't stopping his weak heart from also falling for all of the other women he had met both back home and the few that had joined their strange family after arriving in Coreline. And it was only his sense of morality, awareness of how serious being in a loving relationship was, refusal to treat these all-too precious people like objects of pleasure, and the knowledge that he would be betraying the trust that everyone had placed in him that kept him from succumbing to temptation.

_And then, one day, Sango asks me to meet with her and the rest of the girls, and tells me that they decided that they would be willing to share, and asking me if I would be alright dating and loving all of them!_ Michiru thought, a part of him unable to believe that Sango, the shy, reserved, and proper Sango he had come to love, that had been outraged every single time Miroku had demonstrated his infidelity in her presence, would ever even consider such a thing. Of actually _encouraging _him to be with other women.

_Then again...it's not like we weren't having problems..._ Michiru reminded himself, recalling how he had been struggling with his own feelings, his own temptations. _And...I know the others...none of them were having any luck...finding boyfriends or with dating or with any of that. And I know that...they still loved me, so..._

But even then, Michiru hadn't realized that things had gotten serious enough that the woman that he lived and worked with and cared so deeply for were willing to try something like that. And he certainly never had expected for her to ask if he would be willing to try.

What came then had been one of the most difficult decisions Michiru had ever had to make; to keep his love only for Sango, to keep himself only for her, all the while rejecting the love of all the others, trying to keep things as they were, or share himself with all of them. And it had been a decision that he had agonized over considerably, one that had forced him to speak with Sango in private, to ask her if she had really wanted this.

Sango had been honest and true with him, and made it clear that she didn't want to share Michiru, that she wanted him all for herself. But at the same time, she was aware of things that he wasn't, of how serious the problem with the others was. She had experienced the jealous glares and shortened tempers of the others, things that they had done their best to keep in check, especially around Michiru, but were more likely to let slip around the woman he had given himself to. The more short-tempered ones or those with serious problems that exacerbated their frustrations like Jubilee, Laura, Angela, and others, were already snapping at her, their jealousy compounded by the many frustrations brought on by their arrival in Coreline. And she could already see the strain and jealousy taking its toll on the rest of them.

Michiru had been quick to understand Sango's concerns. In his time with his Feudal Era friends, he had seen how jealousy, frustration, and desire could eat away at a relationship. Kagome's jealous rants, InuYasha's being caught between his desire for both Kagome and Kikyo, and the anger and frustration that this gave rise to in the both of them, those had been bad enough. But the situation he was dealing with was far worse. So many good people he was coming to love nearly as much as Sango, and their relationships were being frayed by their own demons. The seeds of infighting and anger were being sown, and he knew that, if there was something he could do to help, and if Sango was genuinely willing to try something like that...

_So I decided to try,_ Michiru thought, recall how difficult and daunting and awkward it had been for him. And at first, he had been certain it would never work. But on his first date with Ilyssa, who had proven to be a source of compassion and wisdom when he had first met her, she had helped him understand that he wasn't like Miroku. That he had remained faithful to Sango, that he was doing this because he loved them all, not as simple objects as pleasure, but as people. Very different people that he loved in very different ways.

It still hadn't been easy. After that date with Ilyssa, Michiru had gone to the other girls and made it clear that they couldn't fight amongst themselves, that they had to trust him and each other, just as he did with all of them. But he had told them that, if they truly did want this, if they loved him enough to try, then he would try just as hard for them to make it work.

And to Michiru's considerable surprise, it did work. The women he loved had been thrilled that he was willing to try this. And so they had accommodated him, and they had been able to organize things for the most part so they he could pay equal attention to all of them. Dates were scheduled, they were planning out pregnancies and who would be next to have a child as best as they could so they wouldn't have too much to deal with at one time. And with the aid of his ability to use doppelgangers, Michiru had been able to give them more attention, even physical pleasure, be with many and not just one. It had worked. In a very real way, it worked.

But even as the pressure to avoid giving into temptation had disappeared, it had soon been replaced by the pressure to care for them all equally. To give them all the caring and love each and every one of them deserved. To tend to them all, take care of their needs as best as he could.

_And sometimes I wonder if I'm really up to that,_ Michiru sighed inwardly as he continued to fly onward. _I love them all, I really do! And the last thing I want to do is abandon any of them! But I can really give them what they need? Can I -?_

A sudden increase in the specific PKE energies, a rise in the dimension-destroying mana, he had been hunting for caught Michiru's attention. Halting in mid-air, the Shikigami Ranger hurriedly reached out with his senses, began scanning his surroundings as thoroughly as he could. Hoping that he'd finally picked up on the source of the problem.

Only to growl in frustration when the spike disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

_"Dammit!"_ Michiru swore as vehemently and loudly if InuYasha would have had he been there. "I just don't _get it!_ We've checked Shandor's mandala, we've covered almost all of New York by now, and we've still got _nothing!_ There's no sign of where the energy is coming from! How is that even _possible?!"_

"Michiru, please, calm down!" Saba advised him in a soothing tone. "I realize that the situation is dire, but you won't be able to help anyone if you give into frustration!"

For a long, ugly moment, Michiru was sorely tempted to yell at the magical short sword. But even as this temptation struck, he recognized it for the ugly, unpleasant thing that it was, and so he throttled it down, taking deep breaths, tried to cool down, to clear his thinking. "I...I know, Saba," he finally replied, shaking his head slowly. "I...I just want to...to protect them. I want to..." Hovering in mid-air, the Shikigami Ranger looked over the city, filled with people and creatures and so much more. All of them whom were counting on him. All of whom he needed to protect.

All of whom he felt he was failing.

"But...I'm not sure I can...if I even..." Michiru began, not sure if he was referring to the woman he loved, this city, the world, or all of the above. "I just - huh?"

A cruel, cold shriek pricked Michiru's ears, prompting him to look about. Only to pause for a moment when he saw several screaming horrors winging their way towards him. Several of them looked like gargoyles made of pure flames, while the rest resembled the Black Slime Ghosts he had fought during his time as a Ghostbuster.

"It appears we have company," Saba noted needlessly.

"So I noticed," Michiru replied, caught between annoyance at this interruption and a perverse pleasure at finally having an outlet for his frustration. Placing his right hand upon the pentagram on his chest, he called out, "Hakuoh! Appear!"

An instant later, a flash of red leaped from the pentagram into Michiru's hand, where it quickly resolved into an ornate crimson crossbow trimmed with white and gold. The arms of the bow resembled wings, and the front had the head of a phoenix at the front. "Ah, excellent!" the magical crossbow declared upon seeing the approaching foes. "It's been far too long since I've had a good fight!"

"We better make it fast, though! We don't have much time!" Michiru informed the crossbow even as he took aim at the ghosts, suspecting from experience that they would be the biggest problem. "Onslaught of Flame!"

Even as he invoked the power of his Fire Shikigami, channeling it into Hakuoh, he pulled the trigger, releasing an arrow of protonic energy laced with magical flames. A short distance after being fired, the arrow splintered into multiple projectiles, each of them streaking towards one of the ghosts with the precision of a guided missile before impacting mercilessly.

The horrid specters cried out in agony from the attack, tumbling backwards in seeming surprise. Glancing back at their injured comrades, the blazing gargoyles then screeched once more before shooting towards Michiru with greater speed.

"Saba! Go to it!" Michiru commanded, drawing and throwing the short sword in one quick motion before summoning the power of his Water Shikigami. "Great River Torrent!"

"Gladly!" Saba returned, spinning towards the gargoyles even as the water spell doused the lead gargoyle, reducing it to an ashen husk that immediately began plummeting to the Earth below.

Even as he took aim with Hakuoh for another shot, Michiru opened a channel to the Command Bridge. "Everyone! I've run into some trouble up here! Gargoyles made of fire and things that look like Black Slime Ghosts!"

"Are you alright?!" came Nefertina's concerned voice.

"So far!" Michiru quickly assured her even as Saba sliced through another of the blazing fiends. "But what about the others?!"

"They're okay," Nefertina assured him. "But - well, let's just say that you're not the only one who's run into some unwelcome guests!"

* * *

><p>"Hey, you! Back off!" Bigfoot ordered even as his powerful front bumper shot out on two hydraulic cylinders, slamming hard into a monstrosity made of a mass of tentacles. "Don't you know I've got a pair of ladies onboard?!"<p>

"Somehow, I don't think they care, big guy!" Charmcaster sarcastically remarked even as she leaned out passenger's side window and gestured at the monster before them, firing a withering blast of eldritch energy at the hideous aberration. Already stunned by Bigfoot's front bumper, the monster was unable to dodge the blast, and was quickly dissolved into a pool of goo by the deadly spell.

"Nice shot, Hope! But we're not out of the woods yet!" Ilyssa noted, glancing at Bigfoot's sideview mirrors and seeing several airborne ghosts floating their way. "Nefertina! Can you do something about those flyers?!"

"You mean _aside _from giving them a serious kick in the Tut?" Nefertina wondered playfully even as the proton cannon in Bigfoot's flatbed moved and took aim. "Watch and be amazed, everyone! I'm going for high score!"

An instant later, the massive proton cannon fired, unleashing a devastating stream of energy the ghoulish entities, causing them to screech in sheer agony. Within seconds, they were all ensnared by the highly-charged particle stream. "Consider yourselves _slammed...!"_ the former mummy declared with considerable gusto, angling the proton beam so that all of the ghosts were smashed hard upon the streets just before angling them upwards over Bigfoot and the waiting Super Slammer, "...and _dunked!"_

An instant later, the proton stream drew the ghosts in like a magnet, drawing them into range of the massive muon trap. In a brilliant flash of light, the screaming horrors were drawn in and trapped with. "Oh, yeah!" Bigfoot enthusiastically declared. "Way to put the zap on those ghouls!"

"All part of the job, Bigfoot!" Nefertina replied even as she took aim at a bunch of vampiric wraiths with the monster truck's roll bar laser lamps. An instant later, beams of super-intense UV light burned from the lamps, instantly incinerating the new attackers. "And I just _love _my job!"

Even as Bigfoot chuckled jovially, Ilyssa sighed. "Speaking of jobs, we still have our own work to do," the scientist and resident expert on ghosts and similar activity announced, knowing that this was nothing compared to what would come if they didn't stop this nightmare. "Nefertina, any updates from the others? Have they found anything yet?"

"Not unless you count some low-level monsters slipping through the dimensional barriers," Nefertina reported, her tone less jovial now. "All we've got so far are spikes in PKE activity that disappear before we can get a lock on them!"

"We're getting nowhere fast, people," Ranma muttered grimly. "If anybody's got any brilliant suggestions, then I'm all ears! And you _don't _have to raise your hands before you speak!"

"Believe me, if I had any ideas, then I'd have told you about them," Charmcaster grumbled, sounding as frustrated as the rest of them. "Whoever's doing this has done a great job of covering their tracks!"

_That's for sure,_ Ilyssa frowned unhappily, her brows furrowed with frustration. _So a standard search pattern isn't working. Which means we've got to be smarter than whoever set this up. We have to analyze it, like a scientist!_

And as a scientist herself, Ilyssa knew the first rule of solving a problem was to get as much information as possible. So she looked over at Charmcaster and asked, "Hope...you've studied a lot of magical artifacts and entities, right? Both here and in our old world?"

"Of course!" Charmcaster returned in a somewhat indignant manner. "It takes a lot of work to become a sorceress of my caliber!"

"Alright. Our problem is that, while we know of a great many things that are capable of weakening the dimensional barriers, what's going on now doesn't fit the profile of any of them," Ilyssa stated, sounding out her thoughts and confusion. "Any artifact like black slime, the Siege Perilous, anything of that nature puts out a definite energy signature that we could use to track it."

"Right," Charmcaster confirmed.

"And if someone _wanted _to break down the barriers, then there would be no way of shielding such an artifact completely, simply because the shielding would also negate the artifact's ability to breach the barriers," Ilyssa continued. "Which would render it completely useless."

"Exactly," Charmcaster nodded.

"And it would take a great deal of PKE energy or mana or whatever to create such a breach, making it impossible to hide," Ilyssa went on, warming to the subject. "Which means that we _should_ be able to track it."

"Except, of course, for the fact that we _can't,"_ Charmcaster grumbled. "We've been all over this stupid city, and - _Bigfoot!"_

"I see it, Hope!" Bigfoot returned even as a monstrous face appeared in the street ahead, a face with a massively toothy mouth. Baleful eyes of deadly yellow light loomed at them just before the monstrous mouth opened wide to swallow them whole. "Hang on, girls!"

An instant later, Bigfoot accelerated even as he sent a surge of power through the hydraulic lifters that served as his shock absorbers, launching them into the air with his tires folding over onto to their sides, the mounted repulsor thrusters lifting them even higher. Within seconds, the monster truck was airborne and past the monstrosity that had tried to eat.

"Phew! You know it's bad when you can't even trust the _road_ you're driving on!" Bigfoot muttered even as he placed his wheels on the street and began rolling once more.

"I'll say," Ilyssa sighed, still not used to this sort of thing, despite the craziness that was their lives. Pausing to take a few deep breaths, the scientist again looked over at Charmcaster. "Now, uh...as I was saying, normally, the only thing that could create a widespread PKE effect like the one we're seeing here would be a widespread distribution system for spiritual energy and mana. Like the mandala Ivo Shandor had created to supply Gozer with the energy needed for the Supreme Destructor Form."

"Basically. Except that, even with a system like his, you'd still see areas with heightened energy levels around the mandala nodes," Charmcaster corrected her. "And anyway, something like that mandala took years of work to set up! And these days, all construction blueprints and renovation plans have to be cleared through the Supernatural Oversight committee."

"To make sure that no one tries something like what Ivo did in the past," Ilyssa nodded, frowning in thought, trying to analyze what this left them.

It couldn't be someone simply using Ivo Shandor's mandala. Michiru and a few others had checked that right after they had gotten to New York, and found nothing. The nodes at the New York Public Library, the Museum, and the Sedgewick Hotel were closed and remained completely inactive, the ghosts having long since been extracted from it so they couldn't endanger anyone or be exploited. And Shandor Island had been sealed up tight since Genom's plot involving the enslavement of possessor ghosts and half-ghost clones to possess and control the Kryptonian population of Coreline had gone belly-up. And it couldn't be someone just using a massive power source, because they would have tracked that down by now.

_So it had to be something different. Something...smaller, more subtle,_ Ilyssa reasoned, nodding thoughtfully. _Hope said that a power source like this would be useless if it were _completely_ shielded, but...what if small amounts of the energy being generated were transferred to remote areas, and _then _released?_

Pausing to mull this over, Ilyssa soon decided that this would make sense. After all, the ecto-containment system did a great job of containing spirit energy, and with the proper shielding, it could be hidden every nicely from outside detection. And if someone were to slowly release ghosts from it, were to release a few of them at a time into traps and release them in a widespread pattern throughout the city...

_Yes, something like that. Except _not _like that. Doing it that way would never be efficient enough to cause this kind of damage to the dimensional membrane,_ Ilyssa realized. _But the basic principle, that could work._ Then she pressed her lips together and thought. _Now...how_ _to _make_ it work...?_

Using and releasing ghosts themselves was out. It would draw far too much attention. Which meant that they were dealing with raw mana, pure PKE, being generated somewhere within the city, in a location that was so well shielded that it wouldn't show up on any sensory equipment, but at the same time, was set up to broadcast the energy in a way that wouldn't be tracked to its origin point.

_Like...tight-beam radio communications. Or - wait! Like _lasers_!_ Ilyssa thought, her eyes bulging somewhat at the possibility. _Yes! That could be it! PKE energy being broadcast like thin, focused laser beams throughout the city! That would explain why all we've seen so far are spikes! Because the energy is so focused that the only way we detect it is if we interrupt the beam! And by the time we realize what's happened, whoever broke the beam has already passed by it, and the spike disappears!_

The more Ilyssa thought about it, the more her idea made sense. Everything about her theory fit in line with what they had been experiencing thus far. _Yes...a central point in the city, broadcasting the PKE energy like laser beams to...some kind of remote receivers! Something small enough to avoid detection, but large enough to absorb the PKE beams and convert it so that it would be spread out to cover a wide area! With a large enough array of receivers and a powerful enough antenna...yes! It _could _work!_

More and more, Ilyssa felt pleased with her theory. Everything fit the situation they were in perfectly. _Which leaves just one question; namely, where is all of this energy coming from?_ As the lovely scientist considered the matter, she began checking off the logical requirements for such a location, one by one. _It has to be capable of broadcasting energy across as much of Manhattan and the rest of New York City as possible, so we're looking at a tall building. The taller, the better, _Ilyssa realized. _It can't be the Infinite Avengers Tower or the New Four Freedoms Plaza, obviously. It has to be someplace where someone could install the necessary equipment to either receive or generate that much PKE energy to wear down the barriers. And ideally, it would be a place predisposed to generating and broadcasting that energy, preferably in a way that wouldn't be noticed. But where? Where could we find someplace like -?_

Before Ilyssa even realized what was happening, the answer exploded into her mind with the force of an atomic bomb, and it was all she could do not to fall over. "Aw, _damn!_ How could I not have seen it sooner?!" she demanded, wanting nothing more than to smash her head into the Bigfoot's steering wheel. "Listen, patch me into Mitch, will you, Bigfoot! There's something I need to ask him!"

"Right, darling!" Bigfoot promptly replied.

"What is it?" Charmcaster asked. She was about to speak again, but Ilyssa held out her hand to her friend.

"Mitch, come in! Can you hear me?!" Ilyssa cried out.

"I can hear you, Ilyssa, but - you better make it quick!" Michiru returned around grunts of efforts, as well as what could only be described as the wails of the dead and damned. "I've got my hands full right now!"

"Yeah? And how's that different from normal?" Bigfoot wondered with a touch of amusement.

"Easy," Charmcaster smiled deviously. "What he's got his hands full with isn't nearly as attractive as we are."

"Or as much fun to play with," Nefertina said in a teasing manner.

"Everyone, _please!"_ Ilyssa urged them, despite finding a certain amusement in their well-intentioned gibes. "Listen, Mitch, there's something important I needed to ask you! I know you and some of the others checked out the nodes of Ivo Shandor's mandala, but did you check 55 Central Park West?"

"What?!" Michiru barked back, the sounds of battle prevalent in the background.

"55 Central Park West! The building that was originally used to summon Gozer!" Ilyssa urged the young man she loved so dearly. "Did you check it?!"

"I -!" Michiru hesitated, caught between whatever battle he was fighting and the struggle to remember. "I...we did a quick check on it, but we didn't find anything! Just the same levels of PKE we've been seeing all over the place!"

For a moment, Ilyssa frowned, wondering if she had been wrong. But then she pressed on with, "How did you check it?" she urged him. "Did you just take a reading of the building or did you actively inspect it?!"

"We - ow! - ran scans of the building and did a quick check of the roof! We found nothing!" Michiru replied around a grunt of effort. "The gateway was destroyed, and - Arrows of Ice! - everything looked to be in place!"

Nodding to this, Ilyssa mulled over what she had been told. 55 Central Park West was a logical place to check for the source of the problem, but at the same time, it was also easy to dismiss. The original Gozer incident had taken place years ago, and more importantly, the roofcap and temple that had allowed Gozer to breach the dimensions and reach this world had long since been destroyed. The current blueprints were all on record and had been cleared to be certain that there was no supernatural hanky-panky in the works.

But at the same time, the building's structure remained exactly as it was, made with cold-riveted girders with cores of pure selenium. The building as a whole was still perfectly capable of performing its original purpose; to pull in and concentrate spiritual turbulence, PKE activity, and mana. _And if somebody's found a way of converting that energy into destructive PKE and then broadcasting it throughout the city...maybe with something small enough to avoid being detected by anything other than an in-depth inspection...yes, _yes, _it could all fit!_

"Ilyssa, what is it?" Michiru wondered, still fighting against whatever assailants dogged him. "Have you got something?!"

"I just might!" Ilyssa hurriedly replied, hoping against hope that she was right. "Nefertina, I need you to patch me into anybody who's close to 55 Central Park West!"

"Already on it!" Nefertina immediately responded. "Uh, let's see...Kirara, Sonar, and Jubilee are the closest. X-23 and Scorpina are a bit further away, but they could get there fast enough."

"Then tell them to head there right away!" Ilyssa urged her friend. "And patch me into them while you're at it! I need to explain to them what they're looking for!"

"And _what _are they looking for?!" Charmcaster wondered, giving Ilyssa an annoyed look.

"The source of the trouble. Or at least something that will lead us to it," Ilyssa promptly replied, issuing a heavy, tired sigh. "I just hope that...we're not too late..."

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: Well, another chapter done. I hope it succeeded in entertaining everyone. So please, read and review! And maybe check out my other stories while I'm at it?<p>

CandyMan53, we'll be meeting more of the gang in the next chapter.

Greymon Leader Batx flashpoint, crazy is the name of the game in Coreline. I'm glad you're enjoying this thus far.


	3. Unwelcome Guests

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, any of the characters or concepts depicted here, or anything associated with them. I have written this story solely because I enjoy writing.

The Shikigami Ranger and the Monster Mashers

Chapter 3: Unwelcome Guests

"This is a damned waste of time!" Sonar growled angrily as walked about the top of the roof of 55 Central Park West, an expression of barely constrained fury creasing her attractive features. "I already checked this place out with Mitch! There's nothing going on here, and that's _final!"_

"I know that, Sonar," Kirara reported, giving the transmetalized techno-organic Maximal a soothing look of seemingly infinite patience. The two-tailed beauty had used her Morpher to summon her Ranger uniform, and was now clad in a black-and-yellow bodysuit and a helmet that exposed her own mouth and nose. For while Kirara preferred to wear minimalist clothing for the most part, she still liked the protective qualities of her Ranger garb and her weapons. "But Ilyssa explained her reasons for sending us here. And I see no harm in doing so."

"I see harm! I see _plenty _of harm!" the gargoyle-like Sonar snapped back, brandishing her deadly claws. "Because while we're poking around, looking for something that _isn't _here, the whole damned _world _is going to the Pit!" Shaking her head disgustedly, the Maximal muttered, "Dammit...we already checked this place! What, does Ilyssa think my sensors are fouled up?! Is _that _it...?!"

Suppressing the urge to chuckle at Sonar's grousing and how it reminded her of Wolverine's own infamous temper, Jubilee was about to say something when another sound caught her ears. The sound of two racing heartbeats rapidly approaching, as well as two powerful engines. "Hold up!" the vampiric mutant announced to the others. "Sounds like the others are about to arrive!"

"Hmph! I already knew _that!"_ Sonar muttered sourly. "Nothing wrong with my ears...!"

Again, Jubilee glanced over at the temperamental Maximal and smiled, knowing that Sonar's bark was worse than her bite, at least outside of battle. With her Bat Power Coin and Morpher embedded in her midriff, Sonar looked very much like a techno-organic fusion of a gargoyle and an attractive blond woman. Namely, she resembled Carly, an ally of the Autobots, whose DNA Sonar had scanned to become the human/Cybertronian hybrid she now was.

The Maximal had been badly damaged in battle in the past on prehistoric Earth during the aftermath of the Beast Wars, and had forced Sonar and a few other Maximals to use stasis pods to put themselves into emergency stasis in order to stay alive. It had being during Michiru's encounter with the Autobots that the stasis pods had been found and the Maximals had been revived. Out of time and at risk of contaminating the timestream, they had opted to take on human forms, becoming techno-organic, so they could blend in until a way could be found to get them back to Cybertron in their time. And while Sonar was temperamental and took umbrage at anything she considered might be an affront to her superior sensory capabilities, she was definitely a good friend, a proud warrior, and definitely someone Jubilee was glad to have on their side.

_Still...I do wish we could get her to take some anger management lessons..._ Jubilee thought with a touch of humor even as two figures shot into the air, virtually flying on the gravity-defying Jet Cycles. As both riders and their mechanical steeds came down upon the roof with deceptive ease, the vampiric mutant thought, _It sure worked wonders with Scorpina there!_

"Have you found anything yet?" Scorpina wondered even as she doffed her scorpion-styled Ranger helmet, revealing the face of a hauntingly beautiful woman of Asian descent. Giving no trace that, before she had been purified by Zordon's dying act of unleashing a wave of pure goodness, she had been a monstrous, ruthless creature of pure evil with the ability to transform into a titanic scorpion-beast of mass destruction.

Michiru had encountered Scorpina and her fellow former ally in evil Finster in Angel Grove shortly after acquiring the Power Coins. Both of them confused and even somewhat broken in the wake of the purification wave that had cleansed them of the evil powers that had once fueled and shaped their minds and bodies, being harassed by some of the locals. Michiru had been quick to take pity on them, and eventually found a way of helping them, enrolling them in the Thunderbolts program for reformed supervillains that would allow them to put their skills and abilities to the cause of good. And while Scorpina didn't like talking about her darker days, there was no doubting her gratitude for his compassion, or the kindly nature she now had.

_Or her ability to kick ass!_ Jubilee smirked, for while Scorpina had been cleansed of the evil that had mutated her into an abomination, she still had powers of her own, as well as all her skill as a warrior.

"No, we haven't found anything! And we aren't going to find anything! Not _here_, anyway!" Sonar vehemently decreed. "And do you know why? Because I _already checked this stupid building out! And if my sensors say there's nothing here -!"_

"Nobody's doubting your abilities, Sonar," X-23 broke in, her level voice making it clear how used she and the rest of them were to the Maximal's extreme sensitivity to any perceived slight. "But we've already covered much of Manhattan, and we've failed to find anything thus far."

"So given just how much of a weirdness magnet this place is, we might as well give it another going over," Jubilee pointed out. "Because _I_ sure don't have any better ideas! How about you?"

Sonar opened her mouth to counter, only to pause and scowl before getting out, "Alright, _fine! _But I _still _think this is a waste of time!"

"Noted," Kirara patiently nodded. "So let's start looking and be as efficient and thorough as we can. For if we can confirm beyond any doubt that this place is not the source of the problem..."

"I've already confirmed that," Sonar muttered. "But...okay. You've got a point there..." And with that, the ill-tempered Maximal went to work, scanning and surveying everything in sight, something which the rest of them were quick to join in doing.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Scorpina wondered as she surveyed the top of the building. Gone were the temple with the horrific Terror Dog statues and other implements that had been built atop 55 Central Park West by Ivo Shandor. Instead there was a lovely, ornate spot for gargoyles such as Angela to roost during the day, as well as a community dining area and rest stop for their kind, with an ornate roofcap resembling a golden sun topping it off.

"Ilyssa believes that whoever is responsible for the current situation is using this building or something on it to broadcast the destructive energies tearing down the dimensional barriers," Kirara reminded her. "So we need to find the source of such a transmission, if it is here."

"Which it _isn't,"_ Sonar continued to grouse. "If she was right about this place being the source of the problem, we'd have been picking up increased PKE spikes on the way here! But we didn't! In fact, I circled this entire damn building, and I got nothing! One or two spikes, and that was it!"

Showing no anger, Kirara countered, "And if you were to design an antenna to broadcast such energies, would you not design it to shut down or react to keep its activities from being detected -"

"- if someone were to come and around and start snooping. Okay, okay, good point," Sonar muttered sourly, clearly loathe to concede this point. "Dammit..."

Watching as Sonar returned to her search, Jubilee smiled at Kirara. The two-tailed demonic beauty smiled in returning, showing a set of cute fangs in response before turning about and sniffing at the air. Leaving the rest of them to search at will.

Her specially devised sunglasses relaying the information detected by her suit's integrated PKE Meter, Jubilee also keened her vampiric senses for anything that could indicate the source of the PKE energy and mana that was tearing down the walls between worlds. Senses that easily painted in her mind the four beating hearts that were so close by, the rich scent of blood, and in Sonar's case, blood mixed with energon, flowing through their veins, every exhalation, every movement of a living being.

Things that, at one time, had inspired Jubilee with a monstrous hunger and need. The hunger for the living essence of her friends. The need to rip them apart and drain them dry, knowing full well that to do so would be to curse them to an existence as an inhuman monstrosity that existed only to pass on the curse of vampirism to others.

No one on their team, save for Lena Dupree, could appreciate what it was like to live with such an all-consuming, unceasing hunger. No one who had not lived as a vampire or some similar creature could appreciate what an utter and complete living nightmare Jubilee had been forced to endure, to look at her friends and loved ones, at innocent people and families enjoying their lives and caring for their loved ones, and feel such gnawing, unending hunger. To imagine herself gorging on them all, eating them alive, ignoring their screams of pain and pleas for mercy as she drained them dry and stole everything, their lives and futures. No one who had not lived with that curse could fully appreciate just what it was like to know that you were a danger to everyone and everything around you, because all it would take was a single lapse to let the hunger overtake you, and turn you into a beast. And that lapse could come at any time, could be triggered by something even as small as a tiny scrape or cut. Anything that could cause the red elixir that was life to spill out, and call to the beast that Jubilee had become.

And thus, no one could appreciate what an absolute miracle of this beautiful, ugly, crazy, but mostly beautiful thing that was life it had been for Jubilee when Michiru had come to their little school in Westchester. Had heard of Jubilee's dilemma, heard that she needed help, and decided that was reason enough to help her. To find a way of restoring her mutant powers, as well as the powers of every other former mutant who wanted their powers back. And best of all, to use the tremendous powers of magic he had cultivated to transform the ichor that now served as her blood, changing her into a Daywalker. Leaving Jubilee with all her vampiric powers, but taking away the horrors that had come with them. Once again allowing her to enjoy the warmth of the sun, a pizza laden with garlic, to be able to venture into a church...and freeing her of that all-consuming hunger.

_I'll never forget that day. The day I became me again,_ Jubilee thought, despite their critical situation. How she had walked into the sun after Michiru had done his work, had looked at her friends and loved ones and felt none of the urge to kill and devour them that she had had to fight for so terribly long. How her initial disbelief had rapidly turned into astonishment, and then into relief. Relief that numbed her mind and washed away so much guilt, fear, and trauma. Relief that had sent waves of tears cascading down her cheeks, and had left her sobbing her gratitude with her arms wrapped about Michiru's shoulders. _And the way I celebrated...went shopping for all kinds of beach clothes before heading out for a beach party with plenty of pizza...damn, that was a party...!_

Keeping that precious memory close in her heart, Jubilee continued to search, surveying every nook and cranny. Listening to her friends as Scorpina announced, "Has anyone found anything?"

"No," Sonar quickly grumbled. "Not that _that's _any surprise..."

"Neither have I," X-23 admitted somberly.

"Nor I," Kirara admitted, her expression grim, the partial Sabertooth Tiger Ranger helmet she wore exposing her frown and adding to her dark expression. "If the antenna _is _here, our quarry has done an excellent job of concealing it."

As she looked at her friends and studied the rooftop that had once been a temple of evil, Jubilee frowned...just before her eyes lit up with inspiration. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way..."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?!" Sonar demanded irritably.

"Well, it's just...whoever's doing this is setting the world up for a four star mystical gang bang. To bring every evil entity capable of flattening the world here, right?" When her friends nodded in assent, Jubilee continued with, "And we've seen plenty of creeps like that, and they usually have some kind of demonic helpers or are demons themselves - no offense, Kirara!"

"None taken," Kirara assured her. "And you _are _correct; those that wish to cause such calamities are either supernatural in nature or have supernatural allies."

Frowning slightly, X-23 asked, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking, X, that we've been searching places where flesh-and-blood people can get to!" Jubilee explained. "But ghosts and whatever, they can get through walls! So what if they set up the equipment -"

"- so that's impossible for us to get close enough to detect," Kirara concluded, nodding thoughtfully. "Buried within the structure of the building proper, perhaps."

"Wha- that's _ridiculous!"_ Sonar irately protested. "Even if it _was _ghosts, if whatever we're looking for _was _here, then there'd still be traces of it! And there aren't! Therefore, it's _not here!"_

"There _are _those exceptionally skilled at hiding things in plain sight, Sonar. The Time Lords, for instance, are very skilled at hiding things in plain sight," Kirara pointed out. "And there _have _been several incidents in recent times involving Gallifreyan technology."

"So the Time Lords might be involved?" Scorpina frowned, clearly unhappy with that possibility. Not that Jubilee could blame her.

"Them or someone else with the skills needed to conceal whatever mechanism is at work," Kirara corrected her. "At the moment, we don't have enough information to know, one way or another."

Her frown deepening, X-23 asked, "Even if that is the case, what do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking that there _is _one of us who can go places the rest of you can't," Jubilee smirked even as she focused her thoughts and felt her body density shift and spread. Moments later, her body had dissolved into mist, even as she called out, "Wish me luck, girls!"

"Excellent thinking," Kirara commended the vampiric mutant even as her mist-form swirled and spread about the entirety of the rooftop, already seeping into every nook and cranny she could. Even pinholes too small to admit even the tiniest bug were filled with Jubilee's substance and scrutinized by her inhuman senses. "I'll contact Nefertina and have her send Wasp over here. Perhaps she can help."

"This is all such a waste of time..." Sonar groused irritably, but everyone ignored her. Especially Jubilee, whose full focus was on the job at hand.

In the odd sight that was a mix of seeing, smelling, hearing, and feeling from every portion of her substance, Jubilee spread forth over as much of the building as body, covering every place she and her friends had already gone and more. She flowed through the vents, squeezed into the seams between metal plates, flowed past screws, nuts, and bolts. Filtered her way through the various decorations, rising up to the roofcap and flowing down across the building. Spreading herself everywhere she could possibly go, relying on her vampiric senses alone.

_Too bad Ranger and Ghostbuster gear doesn't work when its vaporized, _Jubilee thought even as she continued up towards the roofcap. _I sure wouldn't mind having a PKE Meter to point me in the right direction. Or at least tell me if I'm getting hotter or colder or...huh?_

Something strange was happening. Jubilee's misty form was starting to flow in a different way. Segments of her body were moving against her will. Started by this development, she instinctively fought back, trying to force her substance back in the direction it had been going.

To Jubilee's surprise, her struggle was to no avail. Not only was her vaporous mass continuing to flow against her will, but it was moving more quickly, and affecting more of her substance. It was like she was in the ocean, trying to swim against the current.

_But _what _current?! Where am I going?! _Jubilee demanded as she continued to be pulled along, trying to make sense of this development. "X! Kirara!"

"What is it, Jubilee?" X-23 called out, a hint of alarm in her words.

"I'm...something's wrong!" Jubilee cried out, her voice echoing eerily. "The building...something in it is...pulling me inside!"

"Then solidify!" Kirara ordered in earnest concern.

"I'd have to pull myself together first!" Jubilee countered as she found herself being completely absorbed into...something. Something dark, something cold. Something with...

Power.

As Jubilee found herself completely absorbed by the structure that so many referred to as the Gozer Building, she found herself inundated by a sense of pure power. Power that registered with vampiric senses, utterly overwhelming them. It was as if she had fallen headfirst into a massive pool of blood.

If she had still been a true vampire, Jubilee would have instantly lost herself to the horrible hunger that was a vampire's constant companion. As if it was, she was still in command of her faculties, and more important, frightened and angry. Frightened by this force that had so effortlessly overpowered her, and angry at herself for not seeing something like this coming.

_Damn! Kirara said it herself! If the antenna was here, it would have to be protected!_ Jubilee thought as she fought to gather together her mass, recover enough to fight her way free. _Must've triggered some kind of - traaaaap!_

Even as she cursed herself, Jubilee found herself once more in the open air, no more imprisoned in darkness. Instead, she could sense the wind rushing by, hear the various noises of the big city. And to her considerable surprise, see the entire world blurring and tumbling madly about her.

_"What the -?!"_ Jubilee cried out in astonished confusion as she flew through the air. Acting on pure instinct, she finally managed to pull her mist-form together and solidified into her flesh-and-blood self...just in time to crash harshly into something. The jarring impact shook her all the way to her bones, very nearly causing the vampiric mutant to discorporate once more. As it was, the sound of metal crushing and bricks breaking thundered in Jubilee's ears even as stars and comets were sent rocketing past her eyes.

The force of the impact completely overwhelmed Jubilee's body for a time, leaving her completely staggered and unable to make sense of anything. And she knew that, if she had been a normal human or even her regular mutant self, she would have been reduced to a massive splatter of chunky salsa. But even her vampiric form required about a minute or so to recover from the sheer impact enough for her to groan in pain, gingerly massage her head, and try and figure out what the heck had just happened.

The first thing Jubilee realized was that she was presently upside-down, and as nearly as she could tell, embedded in a brick wall and a mass of crushed electronics. Glad not for the first time for the fact that the Champions were sponsored by Stingray Industries and thus were protected from having to deal with accidental damage, the vampiric mutant pushed herself out of her humiliating predicament and flopped down to the ground.

"Owwww...!" Jubilee groaned fitfully, lingering stars and comets still bouncing around her cranium. "It's times like this I'm _glad _Mitch wasn't able to totally cure me..."

"Jubilee!" came Kirara's worried voice. "What happened?! Where are you?! Are you alright?!"

A beat passed as Jubilee realized that the two-tail was speaking over the communicator built into her shades. "Uh...well, I'm still sucking oxygen, so I guess I'll be alright," she finally returned, giving a quick shake of her head to rid it of the lingering fog. "As for where I am...gimme a sec, okay?"

With that, Jubilee pushed herself up to her feet and quickly took in her surroundings. "I'm on the roof of a building. On the other side of Central Park," she reported before focusing on a particular building. "I can see the Gozer Building from here. Can Sonar spot me?"

"Of _course _I can!" Sonar heatedly reported. "But what the hell happened?! How'd you get over there?!"

Giving a lopsided grin, Jubilee again looked about at her surroundings. "I think I found that broadcast antenna or whatever it was Ilyssa sent us to find. Or maybe it found me," she reported. "That...whatever it was I felt pulling at me...it must have been the thingy channeling power and broadcasting it. And..."

As something caught Jubilee's eye, she frowned thoughtfully. "And?" X-23 prompted her, sounding concerned. "Jubilee, what is it?"

"Uh, hold up, X," Jubilee asked her friend even as she knelt down next to the crushed machinery and frowned that much more deeply. The equipment that had been on the losing side of her flight and subsequent crash had been split open, the metal plating shattered and in pieces, revealing circuitry and machinery within.

Circuitry and machinery that didn't look like it had any business being inside what was labeled as a cable box.

"Uh, Ilyssa? Jubilee here," the vampiric mutant slowly began as she studied the equipment. "Patch into my HUD, will you?"

"Done," Ilyssa announced, having accessed the recorders in her special sunglasses. Something made clear when the scientist gasped lightly and asked, "What...what _is _that?"

"Don't know, but that weird whatchamacallit you sent us to find just sent me for a ride right into it," Jubilee explained. "I'm scanning this thing right now, so send whatever I get to Sonar. Because it looks like your theory has been confirmed."

* * *

><p><em>"I don't have time to waste on you!"<em> Michiru cried out impatiently, his frustration and anger getting the better of him as yet another wave of fiery gargoyle statues and Black Slime Ghosts came at him, this time with a horde of minor demons. "Saba! Hakuoh! Are you ready!"

"Always, Michiru!" Saba assured him.

"Ready and waiting!" Hakuoh eagerly seconded.

"Alright, then!" Michiru gritted out as he flew up higher than the encroached horde of monstrosities. With the magical short sword in his right hand and the devastating crossbow in his left, he took careful aim at his attackers. _"Blue Sky Blades! Ethereal Arrows!"_

At these invocations, two pentagrams appeared about Michiru, one at his feet, while the other was right before his chest, discharging the power of his Shikigami into his magical weapons. Once they were empowered, he slashed with Saba and pulled Hakuoh's trigger, unleashing twin attacks of devastating magic. Magical arrows of purified ethereal essence, better known as ectoplasm, rocketed towards the many horrifying abominations, guided by Hakouh's magic. The result was the Ethereal Arrows pierced each and every one of them right through its core. As the air was filled with pained screeches, the monstrosities were left hanging in mid-air, the purified ectoplasm leaving them stunned and helpless for the barrage of magical Wind Scar attacks that cut through the air, cleaving through each and every one of them.

"There! That settled them!" Hakouh decreed with a distinct sense of satisfaction.

"Yes, but don't forget that we have many more battles that have yet to be fought," Saba reminded them. "And while our goal is to protect the innocent -"

"I won't be able to do that if I waste too much power on small skirmishes like this. I know that, Saba," Michiru assured the magical short sword. "Believe me, if living with a harem has taught me anything, it's the importance of pacing myself. I -"

"Mitch! Listen up!" came Nefertina's voice over the com-device integrated into his helmet. "We've got a situation! Raven's in trouble!"

"Raven?!" Michiru returned, surprised by this news. "Why? What happened?!"

"She's surrounded! Some kind of fire demons!" Nefertina hurriedly explained. "She's fighting back, but...she's completely freaking out! Screaming, and -!"

"Oh, great! I was afraid of this!" Michiru spat beneath his breath. While Raven had incredibly formidable magical powers as a result of her unique lineage, that power came at a price, rendering her extremely sensitive to magical forces and strong emotions alike. When their little family arrived in New York, she had already been concerned about maintaining control and keeping her head in the ectoplasmic soup that the Big Apple had become. "Where is she?!"

"I'm sending you her location now!" Nefertina quickly answered even as the location appeared on Michiru's HUD. "Also, it looks like we've got a lead on the source of this mess! I'll let you know as soon as we have more information!"

"Good, you do that!" Michiru hurriedly answered, trusting in his teammates and lovers to do what needed to be done. "I'll take care of Raven! Call you back as soon as possible!"

"Be sure you do that!" Nefertina beamed even as Michiru rocketed forward, already turning in the direction of his troubled teammate.

With the steadily increasing number of demons and ghosts and other unearthly horrors that were slowly filling the skies over New York City, it took longer than Michiru would have wanted to track down Raven. And when he finally saw her, he felt his blood boil. She was being overwhelmed by fiery demons, different from the burning gargoyles he had so recently defeated. Their heads were twisted and skull-like, and the skin beneath their flames resembled charcoal. They had long tentacles for arms and hands that were wrapping about Raven, and ghost-like tails where their legs should have been.

_"Get away from her!"_ Michiru roared as he dove in, angling the wings of his Phoenix Battlizer and launching a barrage of missiles from the wingtips. The burning missiles flew swift and sure, striking several of the fire demons directly, resulting in them dispersing. But that still left a few more in close proximity to Raven, something the Shikigami Ranger was quick to address. "Arrows of Ice!"

Pulling Hakouh's trigger, Michiru launched a horde of icy arrows from the enchanted crossbow, which struck the fire demons that had their tentacle-arms wrapped about Raven's arms. Even as the half-demonic empath struggled to free herself, her struggle was unexpectedly won when their malicious screeching was suddenly silenced, cut off by the shells of ice that formed about them as a result of the arrows' impact. With her attackers immobilized, Raven grimaced dangerously and intoned, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Ebon light beaming from both her eyes and hands, Raven unleashed a destructive wave of darkness that lashed out in every direction, instantly obliterating several of the fire demons. The half-demon was quick to follow up on another batch of the attacking fire demons, lashing out with a massive whip of ebon power that crashed down harshly upon them. A deadly snarl tearing free of her lips, she then turned towards another batch of fire demons, and dealt with them similarly.

"Michiru..." Saba murmured in a concerned manner.

"I know," Michiru returned even as Raven continued her assault. Normally, the half-demon empath was a methodical, controlled fighter, never giving in to rage simply because of the inherent danger of her emotions unleashed. Even with the Power Coin and Ranger gear he had devised to help regulate and control her powers, that danger was always with her. And with the monstrous levels of mana and PKA saturating the area, and especially with the nature of the attacking demons...

Michiru's thoughts were interrupted when another batch of fire demons came in towards Raven, who had left herself open to be flanked in her rage. "Great River Cascade!" the Shikigami Ranger invoked, slashing with Saba and sending a massive deluge of water at the demons, immediately extinguishing them. "And now for you, Raven!"

Without hesitation, Michiru took aim at his teammate with Hakuoh and pulled the trigger, releasing an arrow purely of the weapon's power. The golden arrow lanced forth, trailing energy from the crossbow even as it wrapped about Raven like a lasso. Crying out in furious surprise even as she realized that she had been ensnared, the empath was too lost in her fury to resist as Michiru pulled her in towards him. "Protective Light!" Michiru invoked as soon as Raven was close enough, surrounding the both of them in a magical barrier, protecting them from the lingering fire demons even as he grabbed her. "Raven!"

Raven answered with a furious snarl that would have chilled many to the bone, and by glaring at Michiru with four eyes of burning, hateful power.

_I knew it! Trigon's influence!_ Michiru grimaced even as he wrapped his arms fully about her. "Oh, brightly shining light," he invoked, a pentagram appearing at his feet, releasing a dragon of light, "drive back the darkness within! Purification of Light!"

Also immediately, the bubble created by the Protective Light swirled and filled with even greater light, light that swelled within the bodies, minds, and souls of both Michiru and the half-demon. Raven screeched with the fury of a banshee as she fought to get free of the all-encompassing light, but the Shikigami Ranger refused to let his grip slacken, not even for an instant.

Though it only lasted for a second or so at most, Michiru felt as if it took forever for his magic to run its course. The demonic forces that ran through Raven were formidable to say the least, and it took no small effort on his part to quell them when she got agitated like this. To drive back the stigma of Trigon's influence over her. But finally, the deadly dangerous forces seething with in her stabilized, the emotional chaos that had been welling up in her settled down, allowing Raven to slowly regain herself.

When Michiru finally pulled back to look the half-demon, Raven no longer looked back at him with four burning eyes of doom. Instead, she looked as she always did, with pale grey skin and dark blue eyes. Instead of the trademark cloak so many Raven alternates wore, she bore a helmet that was not unlike those used by Gatchaman variants with a dark flowing cape, as well as stylized version of a Ranger uniform that was designed to fit her esthetics. Satisfied that her appearance was normal, Michiru asked, "You alright?"

"No. But I _am _better. Thank you," Raven shakily assured Michiru as she hugged him, as if seeking some kind of emotional anchor. "Sorry."

"It's alright, Raven," Michiru promptly assured her, again feeling somewhat out of his depth. The half-demon was one of the few members of his harem to have joined them after the rest of them had arrived in Coreline. Having been deposited in this world completely alone, Raven had been left incredibly fragile emotionally as a result of losing her friends. She had rejected the idea of hooking up with either the Justice League Unlimited or any version of Coreline's Teen Titans, simply because she hadn't been able to deal with the idea of interacting with variants of her friends, people that looked and maybe even acted like them, but weren't them.

And so, without any better ideas, the agency in charge of dealing with immigrants to Coreline had sent Raven to a special division charged with finding at least temporary homes for lost souls like Raven. Which ultimately led to Raven being placed in the care of a Ms. Smith, a lazy, irresponsible bureaucrat that often wore sunglasses, had long, dark hair, and had a wretched habit of showing up at the apartment where Michiru and the others lived and bumming free meals and coffee off of them. And to Michiru's chagrin, having learned that he and most of the others simply couldn't say 'no' to someone in need, had developed a pension for making their home the 'temporary' lodgings of women such as Raven whenever she felt she could get away with it.

_After all, the poor thing is so alone! And with so many other girls running around here...!_ came one of Ms. Smith's many, _many_ excuses for such tactics in Michiru's mind. Right along with the image of the sad, broken, and utterly despondent expression on Raven's face when she had first come to live with them. An expression that flickered on her face even now.

"He's coming," Raven spoke in a low voice of absolute dread. A voice that made it clear precisely who she was speaking of.

"Trigon, I know," Michiru returned, glancing about the fire demons that were Trigon's minions. Glad that his helmet concealed the grimace he was wearing at the thought of fighting a monster that made Naraku look like Little Mary Sunshine, he took note of the way the many beasts were pounding on the Protective Light. "Raven, I...I'm sorry, but there's not a lot of time to talk. But I promise you, whatever happens, we'll deal with it! Trigon, Cthulu, whatever! We've handled everything this crazy world has tossed at us so far! We can handle this as well!" Giving a slight snort of amusement, he added, "As Tina likes to say, Eldritch Abominations like him all have one big weakness; getting -"

"- getting the Tut kicked out of them by giant robots," Raven concluded with a wan smile that didn't even come close to touching her face or driving away the fear and anxiety that still marked her expression. "But...we'd all be better off if..."

"If we stopped him from getting here in the first place," Michiru promptly nodded. "Then we better get to work on that."

There was no more time for talk, for it was then that the Protective Light evaporated, allowing the fire demons to renew their assault. But Michiru and Raven were more than ready for it, now that the half-demon had had the chance to regain herself. And so she and the Shikigami Ranger went to work, combining their skills and affinity for magic to fighting back the demonic siege.

"Has anyone been able to find what's causing this?" Raven asked even as she pummeled a series of fire demons.

"We've got a lead," Michiru replied even as he shot down several more of the blazing beasts. "Jubilee and the others found something at the Gozer Building! Could be the cause of it!"

"The Gozer Building?" Raven frowned, pausing in her efforts to look at Michiru. "But - we checked that -!"

"I know! Whatever's going on there, not even Sonar or anyone else could track it down! But they're working on it!" Michiru assured her. "We need to get over there and give them some help!"

"Maybe you should go ahead," Raven suggested. "Or maybe use your doppelgangers to -"

"I can't use doppelgangers! Not while morphed, and not with the dimensional membrane strained this way!" Michiru reminded her, surprised that he should even need to mention this. "Duplicating me means duplicating my Power Coins! And too many Coins with the same color and power would cause -!"

"Right. Bad things," Raven concluded, sounding as if she were kicking herself for forgetting something as basic as that. "Well, we can't teleport. Not without maybe winding up on the wrong planet."

"Then we'll just have to fight our way there!" Michiru declared even as he blasted several more of the demons. "And the faster, the better!"

* * *

><p><em>Impossible! <em>was the only thought running through Sonar's mind as she continued to hover next to the roofcap of 55 Central Park West. A roofcap that looked perfectly, completely harmless to every sensory device at her command. _There's nothing here! I'd swear upon the Matrix itself! Absolutely nothing!_

It was absolutely impossible. Sonar's sensory capabilities were exceptional, even among the trackers and sensory specialists that lived on Coreline. On Cybertron, she had been the best reconnaissance the Maximals had ever had. She had a long, healthy record of ferreting out dangers and enemies that had eluded even the best trackers of the Champions and other hero teams.

And now, she was being faced with incontrovertible proof that those sensory capabilities had failed her. That someone had created a device capable of tearing down the walls between worlds, and Sonar had completely and utterly failed to find it.

_Impossible!_ Sonar thought as she continued to study the roofcap. She had seen Jubilee being drawn up into the building, had been able to track the unique signature of her vampiric mist-form even as it had been absorbed by the building, had lost it for a brief time, only to find it once more as it had been sent flying out of one of the many spikes of the sun-like roofcap. Confirming beyond any doubt that Ilyssa had been correct. That the Gozer Building was the source of the problem.

And Sonar had utterly and completely failed to see it before now. Had been completely blind and had thus allowed this crisis to get as far as it had already. And would have continued to dismiss it if not for a sheer fluke of Jubilee getting caught in the mechanism. Meaning that if anyone died, if the world ended that day...it would be all her fault.

While Sonar continued to rant and rage inwardly, wanting nothing more than to rip the entire building apart, her keen senses detected the approach of a familiar figure. "Sorry to take so long getting back!" came Jubilee's exuberant voice. "Ran into some ghosts that thought that I would make for an easy meal!"

"I know. We've been seeing an increase in demonic and spirit activity here," Kirara informed their friend.

"They haven't attacked us here, though," Scorpina noted, sounding more suspicious of their good fortune than anything else. "I wonder why."

"They don't seem to be targeting anyone specifically," X-23 noted as she studied the monsters in the air, then glancing down at those on the streets. "These entities seem to be moving at random, simply lashing out at anything they happen across."

"Or maybe they just don't want to go on the same ride that _I _just did!" Jubilee suggested with a wry look. "Think about it. They get too close, and - _whammo!_ An all expenses paid trip to a crash landing." Wincing at this, the vampiric mutant went on to ask, "So, is Wasp here yet?"

"Not yet," X-23 informed her. "She should be here soon, though."

"I don't need her! I _shouldn't_ need her! Or _anyone!"_ Sonar raged, driving her fist down on the roofcap. "Dammit to the Pit! Why can't I figure this out?!"

"Uh...I got a better question," Jubilee piped up. "Since we've basically confirmed that _that's _the antenna of evil that's setting us up for Armageddon, why don't we just...blow it up already?"

"Because we _need _it! _Intact!"_ Sonar snarled, throttling down the urge to do just as Jubilee said.

Jubilee made a face at this, only for X-23 to explain, "We have to find out how this device works, and a way of tracking the rest of them. Don't forget that this event isn't isolated to New York. Which means that there has to be an antenna like this located at every supernatural hotspot."

"So we have to find a way of tracking and identifying them all across the world. And find out who made them," Scorpina seconded.

"Right. Because the rest of them probably aren't located at places already associated with the end of the world. Got it," Jubilee groaned. "So, uh...I guess we can't just break it open and see how it works that way, huh?"

"Not without running the risk of activating a self-destruct or some other defensive mechanism," Kirara confirmed. "Which is why we need -"

"Me?" came a voice from seemingly out of nowhere. As everyone present looked about, they were treated to the sight of a tiny speck suddenly expanding into a full-figured woman in a black-and-yellow outfit with a insectoid Ranger helmet. Pressing a button on the helmet's side, the wearer caused it to retract into her costume, revealing the smiling face a Janet van Dyne alternate. "Hey, everyone!"

"Hello, Janet," Kirara nodded. "I'm sorry to call you here on such short notice, but -"

"Hey, no biggie! Just finished getting civilians clear of the area, so..." Wasp replied, only to look over at where Sonar was. "Anyway, I'm guessing that's the Gizmo of Ultimate Doom, huh?"

"That's the one!" Jubilee confirmed.

"We need you to shrink down with Sonar and see if you two can identify how it functions, and see if there's any way of tracking similar devices," Kirara hurriedly explained. "And I suggest you move quickly, because -"

"I know, I know, the end of the world doesn't wait for anybody," Wasp cheerfully replied even as she fluttered over to the Maximal, her wings flitting rapidly as she came to hover next to her. "So, Sonar...you ready to get a new perspective on this thing?"

Sonar dearly wanted to tell Wasp off. She had a great deal of pride in her ability as a reconnaissance specialist and tracker, and the fact that she was failing miserably to even sense any trace of the mechanism she knew she was standing right next to was infuriating her.

But at the same time, Wasp and the others were all her friends, something Sonar knew she didn't have a lot of, courtesy of her self-consciousness, penchant for violence, and a hair-trigger temper that would give alternates of Wolverine a run for their money. And more importantly, there was a lot more at stake than her own pride. The world was in great danger, and even if she was selfish and cruel enough to not care about the rest of the world, she had to remember that she happened to be one of the idiots who _lived_ on it.

With a great deal of effort, Sonar swallowed her pride and forced down her anger issues. "Alright, fine. Just shrink us down before I lose it and tear this damned thing to pieces already!"

"Works for me!" Wasp replied even as she restored her helmet and placed her hand on Sonar's shoulder. Deploying a wave of controlled Pym Particles, the size-shifter shrank both herself and the irate Maximal down until they were both smaller than a bug.

Really not liking the fact that they were now on a much lower rung of the food chain, especially given the current predicament, Sonar looked at the roofcap that seemed to span forever before her. "Alright, you damned bundle of misery!" the Maximal snarled furiously as she once more deployed every sensory mechanism at her disposal. "It's long past time I figured out what the hell makes you tick!"

"That's the spirit!" Wasp declared even as she gave the Maximal some space. "So where do we start looking?"

"Over there," Sonar replied, pointing at one of the spines that spread forth from the roofcap. "There's where I saw Jubilee come out of this thing."

"Sounds like as good a place to start as any," Wasp replied, already shooting off in the direction indicated.

Sonar was not far behind, but she didn't move as fast as her fully human friend. Instead, the Maximal reconnaissance specialist kept her sensors trained on the roofcap, scanning it down as far and in as much detail as her systems could manage. Absolutely determined to find whatever it was about this structure that had eluded her thus far.

But even on this smaller scale, the roofcap looked as utterly unremarkable to Sonar's scanners. Thoroughly and completely harmless.

_But it _isn't_! Scrap it all, there _has _to be something!_ Sonar vehemently thought as she studied the flow of PKE about the structure, the patterns of the metal, the way the roofcap was designed. _Something, there's got to be _something_ here! There _has _to -!_

"Hey, Sonar?" Wasp spoke up, breaking the Maximal's concentration. "Is it me, or does this metal look...kinda weird?"

It took all of Sonar's self-control not to yell at Wasp for breaking her concentration and instead ask, "What do you mean, weird?!"

"Well, look at all those specks and such," Wasp explained, gesturing at the spine they were flying over. "It looks wrong."

"Metal wouldn't look smooth on this scale," Sonar muttered sourly. "You of all people should know that!"

"Well, duh! Of _course _I know _that!"_ Wasp shot back in a testy manner. "But the specks and such wouldn't all look the same, now would they?"

Starting at these words, Sonar looked incredulously at Wasp for a few seconds before again focusing her optical receptors on the metal. True to the size-shifter's word, several of the deformations and imperfections in the metal were the same exact shape. Not all of them, but enough so that it caught her attention. "And...they're in a pattern...!" Sonar breathed, her olfactory sensors detecting a metaphorical stench. "They're patterned about the spine...a spiral...!"

Sonar pounced on this discovery like a pack of starving wolves would a large, juicy steak, and moved to hover over the deformations, ramping up all her scanners and sensory equipment to maximum intensity as she scrutinized this clue. She detected no heightened levels of PKE or anything else, but if the device was rigged to cease activity when in a proximity to something solid, that would explain that. So she studied and scrutinized it, her sensors penetrating deep into the metal, until...

"It's...a helix formation...like for a vent or...oh, for spark's sake, _of course!"_ Sonar screeched, smashing her clawed hands against her forehead in absolute fury. "How could I be so _damned blind?!"_

"Sonar?!" Wasp called out, taken aback by this outburst. "Sonar, what is it?!"

"Look!" Sonar cried out, driving the reality of what she had overlooked into her processors even as she gestured at the reality of what she had failed to see before. "Most of the deformations are natural, but several of them have been altered! They've been made into pores in the metal! Vents that channel and focus tiny streams of PKE and mana into a tight beam!"

"Altered?!" Wasp repeated, trying to make sense of what was being told to her. "You mean...nobody installed any new machinery or whatever?! They just altered the surface of this thing?!"

_"No!_ There has to be something more on the inside! Something hidden by a material that naturally shields that active energies from detection!" Sonar countered, her frustration finding expression, despite her best efforts. "But _this _is why I wasn't able to find anything! There's no real lens, no antenna, no external equipment! Someone created hundreds of tiny pinholes that allow the energy to escape in tiny, focused streams that intersect, creating much more massive streams and broadcast them out!"

"Like poking a hole in a water balloon!" Wasp realized, snapping her fingers in comprehension.

"A metal balloon that's constantly being filled with more energy!" Sonar confirmed, still kicking herself with disgust. "Someone wanted to pull an end-run around any scanning technology we might use, and this was it; a simple venting system! _Low _tech! A highly-advanced setup to take advantage of a basic principle of spiritual energy transmission! Clean, simple, and neat!"

As Sonar continued to kick herself mentally for not seeing this sooner, for not discovering this during her initial examination with Michiru, Wasp wondered, "But how did somebody even set this up with nobody noticing?!"

"Nanites, alchemy, magic?! I don't know, and right now, I really don't give a scrap about any of that!" Sonar spat out. "Just size us up, and quick!"

"Watcha got in mind?" Wasp wondered even as she placed her hands on Sonar's shoulder, already discharging Pym Particles.

"Now that I know how this thing is getting this scrap out, I'm gonna open it up and see what else I can learn about it!" Sonar heatedly answered. "And once I'm done wringing it for all the intel it can give me, I'm telling Tina and what's-his-face what I found so he can use it to find the rest of these things wherever the Pit they are!"

"And how are you gonna open it up?" Wasp wondered. "Need any tools?"

"Nope! I've got everything I need to rip this damn piece of scrap wide open - _Wrecker-style!"_ Sonar grinned dangerously, long, deadly claws extending from her fingertips.

"Then you better hurry and do so, Sonar," X-23 noted, her voice low with concern. Taking note of the mutant's tone, the Maximal looked her way, and saw that X-23's own claws were at the ready. "Because we just attracted the enemy's attention."

Starting at this, Sonar again opened up with her advanced senses, and realized that the mutant was correct. Whether they were responding to some kind of security or were just wandering spirits or demons or whatever that were simply looking for trouble and happened to spot them, there was no way of knowing. Nor did it really matter.

"Okay. Keep those damn pieces of scrap off of me while I peel this thing open," Sonar instructed her friends. Then she cast a hateful look at the approaching monsters and added, "And be sure to save a few of them for me once I'm done here!"

* * *

><p>"Looks like we got here just in time," Raven announced even as she and Michiru flew towards the Gozer Building. Her tone grim as she eyed the multitudes of horrors descending upon the roof and the women present there.<p>

"I noticed," Michiru returned even as he eyed the situation. Sonar was hard at work, peeling open the roofcap while Wasp covered her, firing blasts that approximated Boson Darts at the encroaching specters. Kirara was wielding her Diamond Daggers, twin crystalline sais that were small, but devastating, while Jubilee's fireworks lit up the sky, the supernatural power lent to them by her vampiric nature decimating several demons. X-23's claws, laced with magic and smeared with juice from Blood Blossoms, made her incredibly effective against the attacking ghouls, while a similar combination applied to Scorpina's bladed boomerang enabled it to cleave through several deadly demons. "So let's get to work!"

With that in mind, Michiru loosed a series of missiles from his Phoenix Battlizer at some of the demons. Even as Raven followed up with a crushing wave of ebon power, the Shikigami Ranger soared in to the rooftop, angling the Battlizer's wings about himself to deflect several supernatural blasts loosed at him. "Looks like I'm gonna need some more firepower!" Michiru decided as he took in the host of attacking ghouls. "Disengage Phoenix Battlizer! Dragon Battlizer, _activate!"_

The Phoenix Battlizer immediately disappeared in a flash of crimson light, and was quickly replaced by a wave of azure energy. Energy that solidified about his chest in the form of azure and golden mechanical armor, as well as boots and gauntlets of a similar nature, with golden armbands about his biceps. Twin blasters were mounted upon his gauntlets, and specially devised thrusters were affixed to his boots. A power jetback appeared on Michiru's back, alongside a massive cannon in the shape of a dragon's head that hunger over his right shoulder, and a missile launcher over his left. A crest like the head of a dragon appeared on the top of his helmet, finishing the transformation.

"Hakuoh, return!" Michiru ordered even as the transformation completed itself, sending the magical crossbow back into the pentagram on his chest. "Ryuu, Kameko, appear!"

Flashes of azure and ebon light leapt from the pentagram to Michiru's hands, quickly resolving into two new weapons. The azure weapon was a mighty double-bladed axe, trimmed with gold and with the head of a dragon situated between the two crescent blades, while the ebon one was a thick, sturdy shield that bore a faint resemblance to a tortoise shell, and had the head of a tortoise on its top.

"Ah, outnumbered again, are we?" Ryuu asked with a hint of amusement. "I like these odds!"

"We've certainly faced worse," Kameko noted in a more sedate manner.

That was all the time there was for talk as Michiru launched himself into action, targeting the first attacker to come into view, a misshapen horror that looked like a half-melted werewolf with wings. Leaping at the monstrosity, he buried Ryuu's blade into its head, cleaving it in two, even as he blocked an attack by another beast with Kameko. Catching sight of more approaching attackers, Michiru paused long enough to fire a series of missiles at them, taking them out of the fight.

"So, uh..." Michiru began, hoping that someone could spare him a few moments to bring him up to speed, "...can anyone explain what's been going on?!"

"Sonar found our problem, Mitch! And even better, she's figured out how it works!" Wasp announced with her typical enthusiasm.

"Mostly. It's sure damn clever," Sonar admitted with grudging respect. "Somehow, whoever set this all up infected the roofcap with some kind of nano-virus to change it into an antenna for PKE and more! It converted it into machinery and circuitry powered by ectoplasm, and even lined everything with shielding to prevent it from being detected! Hardly any moving parts, minimal circuitry! We came damn close to missing it!"

"Any idea who did it?" Michiru wondered even as Raven sent several demons screeching off into the sky.

"No clue! Not here, anyway!" Sonar gritted out. "No fingerprints, no traceable signatures, nothing!"

"Can we use what you found so that the other teams can track more of them?" Michiru asked as another withering blast of death slammed into Kameko.

"Pretty much! It's still gonna be a bitch, though!" Sonar reported. "If I could find whatever's powering this thing, I might be able to learn more!"

_"Find _the power - you mean it's not in there?!" Michiru demanded somewhat impatiently. "Then where -!?"

"I don't know! Whoever did this is using the building's own structure to channel spiritual energy into the antenna!" Sonar reported. "All I can tell you is that the power source _has _to be somewhere in the building!"

"Then find it!" Michiru declared, making a snap decision. "Wasp, take Sonar and X-23! Search the building and find whatever's powering that thing! Maybe that'll give us some kind of clue!"

"You got it!" Wasp enthusiastically replied. "C'mon, X! Let's do this!"

"Huh?! But - wait!" Sonar screeched irately. "What about this damn thing?!"

Pausing to see the Maximal indicating the sun-like roofcap, Michiru asked, "Can you safely destroy it?!"

"Sure!" Sonar returned. "No bomb, no fail-safes! Whoever did this was counting on this thing staying beneath the radar!"

"Then you have my permission to blow it straight to hell!" Michiru informed her. "Then contact mission control! Send them everything you found! Understood?!"

A beat passed before a frighteningly dangerous grin split Sonar's face, revealing a mouthful of razors. "Oh, I understand, alright! _Especially_ the part about blowing it to hell!" the violent Maximal decreed, turning to face the roofcap. "I've been wanting to do this all night! Take _this, _you damn piece of scrap!" Without another word, Sonar hefted a massive Proton Blaster and unleashed a series of Boson Darts at the antenna. An instant later, the antenna that had brought all this doom down upon them exploded in a brilliant pyrotechnic display that soon rained shrapnel down upon them all.

_"Damn, _I needed that!" Sonar grinned viciously. "Okay, we're gone!"

Watching as Sonar left with X-23 and Wasp, Michiru frowned slightly, hoping that destroying the antenna had been the right thing to do. After all, he wasn't sure how much Sonar had been able to glean from it, and if he or some of the others had had a chance to study it, they might have been able to learn more about it.

But even as he thought this, Michiru shook his head. For while Sonar had a short temper and tended to be overly defensive regarding her abilities, there was no doubting her skills or intelligence. Having been born and spent her formative years on Cybertron, she knew more about science and engineering than pretty much anyone else on this team. If she said she had learned enough to enable other teams to find similar devices in other cities, then he believed her. And even more important was that, every moment that antenna had been allowed to continue flooding the city with destructive power, the greater the chances of them facing far worse threats.

_Still, maybe we should call in more help!_ Michiru decided. "Nefertina! Come in!"

"I'm right here, Mitch!" Nefertina promptly answered. "What is it?"

"I need Ilyssa, Hope, and Bigfoot here right away!" Michiru promptly reported. "We destroyed the antenna itself, but we're still looking for whatever was powering it! So when we find it -!"

"You're gonna need help figuring out what makes it tick! I got it!" Nefertina broke in. "Okay, I'll send them your way!"

"Great, thanks!" Michiru replied. "Mr. Saotome, if you're listening, please have Headquarters check PKE levels in the city! With the antenna down -!"

"On it," Ranma promptly answered. "I just hope that it wasn't too little, too late."

* * *

><p>"We may already be too late," Misato reported, her expression worn and grim as she looked at Ranma from the holographic screen being projected by his computerized bracelet. "Taking out the antenna you told us about has definitely had an impact on the PKE and mana levels in New York. But they're still going up, even if it is a lot more slowly."<p>

"Aw, _damn!_ Are you kidding?!" Ranma groaned despondently. "Does this mean...there's another antenna somewhere in New York?!"

"Possible, but not likely. Given Sonar's analysis of the antenna, it would have taken a great deal of time and effort to create the one you found without being discovered. Creating a second one would have greatly increased the risk of discovery," Yui reported, still the picture of calm that only an android could be in a situation like this. "However, there is still the device Jubilee accidently discovered. From what we've been able to determine, it is - or _was_ - devised to absorb and broadcast supernatural energies for a wide radius. If Ilyssa's theory is correct, then there are likely many of these devices located throughout New York City, and they have been absorbing a great deal of energy."

"So what are you saying?" Ranma wondered, wishing not for the first time that he had paid more intention in school. "That they might still running on backup power?"

"Precisely," Yui confirmed. "They may have absorbed enough energy to continue breaking down the dimensional membrane without the benefit of external power. In which case, you would have to destroy all of them in order to stop the effect entirely."

"Aw, _damn...!"_ Ranma groaned despondently. "So is there any way of tracking these things down?!"

"Possibly. The data Sonar sent us _was_ helpful. She sent a full analysis of the roofcap and the broadcast system she and Wasp uncovered," Yui confirmed. "It should be possible to calculate the locations of the other devices, based on its design, and where Jubilee found the first one."

"And once they're destroyed or run out of power, PKE levels should start returning to normal," Misato seconded with a grim look. "But that _will _take time. And by then..."

Cursing beneath his breath, Ranma then asked, "What about Sonar's data?! Any chance that can help us find more of these antennas?!"

"We've analyzed the specifics of the broadcast system she discovered, and have determined that only an object of a similar size to the roofcap at 55 Central Park West would service as an antenna, and it would have to be out in the open and situated at the top of a tall building in order for it to be effective. So the other teams have been able to narrow the search parameters," Yui informed him. "But while they have been able to find objects of suspicious nature, none of the others have been able to confirm the destruction of similar antennas." Groaning at this latest bit of bad news, Ranma's heart sank even more when the Vision variant added, "Furthermore, the vast majority of the affected cities have reached crisis levels. It won't be long before dimensional breaches occur."

"The Ranger Sentai League, Avengers Infinity, Justice League Unlimited, and everyone else with giant robots and whatever is on standby at the crisis zones," Misato reported with a grim look. "And it looks like we're gonna need them."

"Great. I can already hear Damage Control's stock skyrocket-" Ranma started, only to be cut off by the sound of a blaring alarm coming over the com, prompting him to cover one of his ears. "What the hell is _that?!"_

A beat passed as Misato checked something, only to grimace. "That's the sound of the shit hitting the fan!" she announced with considerable dismay. "Multiple cross-dimensional events are in progress! High level intrusions!"

"In other words, the party guests are arriving. Great," Nefertina muttered sourly even as she continued to monitor the situation. "And we haven't even finished setting out the hors d'oeuvres!"

Not even bothering to reprimand the former mummy for her sense of humor, Ranma asked, "So what are we looking at?! Anything in our area?!"

"There's one breach occurring within the boundaries of New York City. Near 55 Central Park West," Yui reported. "Another breach is taking place underwater, in the Hudson River."

Once again cursing the legendary Saotome luck, Ranma asked, "Any idea what we're dealing with?!"

"No. Impossible to determine the nature of the intrusions without additional information," Yui reported. "However, the scale of the breaches indicate that the invaders to be Kaiju-level intruders."

"In other words, giant monsters. Perfect," Ranma groaned in patent defeat. "Misato, is the city clear?"

"That's about the only thing that's gone smoothly tonight," Misato reported. "All civilians have been evacuated, and containment protocols are in effect. We're as ready as we're ever gonna be."

"In that case, I request authorization to have this team deploy their Zords and intercept...whatever the hell is heading our way," Ranma requested.

"Authorization granted," Misato assured him. "Give the team the bad news, and have them blow these things back to whatever hell they came from!"

* * *

><p>As Sango punched the fiery gargoyle that was part of the pack attacking her and the other members of their strange family, she felt no pain at all at the impact of her flesh and blood on a creature of flaming rock. And as she watched it go flying off over the horizon, screeching in pain and trailing bits and pieces of its substance, she once found herself wondering, on the off chance she were to ever encounter the Leader from their home reality ever again, if she would crush him into paste...or thank him.<p>

Before her ill-fated dated with Michiru that had been interrupted by the Leader's plan to transform everyone in Japan into gamma-powered slaves, Sango had been a relatively ordinary young woman in her mind. Her training and upbringing as a Demon Slayer aside, the warrior woman had been much like other women her age, and the only member of the group of warriors pursuing Naraku that was bereft of any special powers. InuYasha had his demonic powers and enchanted sword, the Tetsusaiga, Kagome was blessed with great spiritual powers, Shippo had his fox-magic, Miroku his Wind Tunnel, and Michiru his Shikigami powers. Sango had none of these, and had been forced to rely on her skill, weapons, and whatever strength she had been able to cultivate during her training.

Then came the day Sango had gone out on her first date with Michiru, when she had been caught between the anxiety of wandering around in a completely unfamiliar world and the contentment she had felt, being hand-in-hand with someone she genuinely loved and who genuinely loved her. A tender day of love that had been brought to a horrific end when, suddenly, a hologram of a man with green skin and a very large head had appeared above the city, just before a thick, green fog had descended upon them all. Transforming Sango's life forever as she found her mind, her very self being pushed down into the darkness as a monstrous green titan ripped free of her clothes, her body, her mind.

The times that followed had been among the darkest of Sango's life, rivaling even that dark period in her life after the deaths of everyone in Demon Slayer Village at Naraku's hands. For even though Michiru and the others had been able to defeat the Leader, they had been able to do nothing to reverse the effect his virus had had on Sango, and like the man known as Dr. Bruce Banner, Sango also found herself transforming in times of stress or rage into a beast of raw, unleashed rage, a hulking monster right out of her worst nightmares.

Nothing Sango had done had allowed her to conquer her gamma-spawned other. No matter how hard she had tried to reign in her anger, sooner or later, something would prompt her transformation, whether it be attacking demons or having a nightmare. And at one point, when she had fallen as low as she felt she could feel, she had attempted to kill the beast...by plunging her sword into her own heart. An effort that had been thwarted when her attempt at suicide had prompted the beast to come forth, transforming Sango's arms before the rest of her, giving her a perfect few of her mutated limbs crushing her sword into uselessness before her inner beast took over the rest of her body, remaking her in its image and sending Sango plunging into darkness.

It had only been when Michiru had found a way to use his Shikigami magic to allow him to venture within Sango's mind that she had been able to reclaim control of her life. It had only been then that, through Michiru's magic, that she had been able to confront her inner beast, all the pain and rage and repressed passion that she had kept at bay for so long, emotions that had taken the form of a gamma-green beast-woman...and finally, accept it. Accept what it was, a part of her. Allowing her to become one with it, and ultimately, master its power.

The physical might Sango had won as a result was beyond anything she could have imagined. No one, not even InuYasha, was as strong or as durable as she had become in her Hulk form. And while she still had control issues from time to time, those had been greatly eased when Michiru had repowered and repurposed the Green Dragon Power Coin, not only enhancing her powers even more, but also focusing and giving them greater stability, allowing Sango even greater control, and affording her new powers and weapons to replace her Hiraikotsu when she accidentally destroyed it.

Now, instead of her long lost boomerang bone and the Demon Slayer outfit that had proven incapable of withstanding her transformations, Sango wore a garment that was a cross between the uniform of the original Green Ranger and that of a traditional Demon Slayer, and carried with her a massive, virtually indestructible boomerang that could also function as a shield and as a cannon, as well as the Dragon Dagger. And instead of her normal human frame, she was roughly half a ton of solid, gamma-reinforced muscle.

_And I'd be lying if all this power wasn't helpful...as long as _I'm _in control of it!_ Sango thought as she slashed at another demon with her with her new boomerang, the Hikobasuta. The mighty mechanical boomerang cut through the monster without pause, killing it instantly. Even as she did so, she felt something tingling her back, prompting her to look about, and see another monster blasting her with demonic energies. _If only I had had this kind of power when we were first tracking Naraku...!_

Smiling despite herself as she thought of her first chance to demonstrate her new power on their enemy and the way he had screamed in utter and pure agony, Sango leapt up and delivered a punishing kick that sent the monster flying through a building...and the next several after it.

"Good shot, Sango!" called one of the Demon Slayer's fellow warriors. Looking about, she saw that it was Makoto Kino, better known as Sailor Jupiter, and from the same world that Sango herself had come from. The former Sailor Soldier's outfit was a Ranger costume that bore a great resemblance to her former Sailor Jupiter outfit, and was one of the members of their little family that the Demon Slayer truly saw as a kindred spirit. Like Sango herself, Makoto was a strong warrior with an independent personality and a gentle heart. The two of them had gotten along wonderfully when they had first met, and had come to make a formidable team since coming to Coreline.

Twirling about her Jupiter Lance, Makoto blasted a couple more demons with a bolt of lightning before punching another. Like Sango, the former Sailor Scout possessed considerably enhanced strength, having worked hard and undergone special treatments to boost her physical abilities, though she wasn't on the same level as the Demon Slayer. "You, too," Sango assured her. "But don't use too much energy, too fast. We've got a long fight ahead of us."

"That's right, so stay focused," seconded Alyssa Enrile, another gentle soul. Formerly the Wild Force Rangers Noble Tiger Ranger, she now bore the White Elephant Coin Michiru had made for her, and was as skilled a martial artist as Sango had ever met. She was pretty much the Team Mom of their unlikely band of misfits, tending to them when wounded and was always trying to keep the peace amongst them. But all she showed the monsters around her was her lethal skill with her Grappler Yari, a trident that could ensnare and pierce foes in a single strike. "It's _never _over until the monsters grow!"

Wincing at this reminder that the kind of villains Alyssa had formerly dealt with had had a bad habit of taking human-sized monsters and turning them into thirty-story tall nightmares and hoping that _that _didn't happen with all the creatures they were facing, Sango watched as the Ranger drove the central blade of her Grappler Yari into another monster, the other two blades wrapping about its waist, cutting it as they dug into its side. The bladed end of the Grappler Yari began to spin, seething with chi even as Alyssa smashed it into the ground, shattering the beast in a single blow.

Nodding her approval even as Alyssa turned her attention to another set of monsters, Sango's ears pricked at another screeching horror that was approaching. Whipping about, the gamma-powered Slayer found herself confronted by a multi-limbed monster with its face lodged in its stomach, its mouth wide open and laden with fangs. Rearing back with her fist, she was about to punch it into next week. Only to halt her attack when another monster pounced upon her attacker.

Taking a step back, Sango watched as this new beast ripped into the first one. It was a monstrous werewolf whose fur glowed with electricity, raining sparks down upon the creature it was attacking, with lighting dancing about her fangs as the bored into the multi-limbed horror's flesh. The electric werewolf was also wearing a silver-blue costume, one that the Demon Slayer knew very well.

"Lena! Be more careful!" Sango reprimanded her teammate even as the electric werewolf dispatched her prey. "I almost killed that thing _and _you!"

Looking up from her fallen foe, the electric werewolf heaved a few deep breaths before her form shifted somewhat. Her werewolf snout retracted, her lupine features softened, her fur subsiding until a face recognizable as Lena Dupree appeared. "Oh...sorry, Sango! I...!"

"I know it must be hard for you to retain control over yourself right now, but you can't let yourself run wild like that!" Sango scolded her, trying very hard to be patient with her. On one level, the Demon Slayer hated the fact that Lena had let the curse of the cat god dominate her so, turn her into a predator of the innocent for centuries. Cost so many their lives, cursing them to the horror that was to live as an undead. But at the same time, Sango also knew what it was like to be under a terrible curse, to not even have the option of ending your own life to spare others. She knew what it was like to be so desperate for revenge that you would unwittingly make a deal with the devil. She knew what it was like to be a beast.

"I know that, Sango! And believe me, I'm _trying!"_ Lena insisted, her features creasing with greater shame. "But...all this power floating around...it's getting harder to think!"

Sango frowned at this. She did know how supernatural creatures like Lena reacted to environmental changes, particularly things such as the full moon and increases in PKE and mana. She had seen InuYasha reduced to a human during the time of the new moon, while also being turned into a beast when his full demonic blood was unleashed.

Sango knew and understood all of this. But there were times when it didn't make dealing with people such as Lena and Jubilee any easier.

_There are times I wish that Michiru had been able to _completely _cure her,_ Sango was forced to admit, recalling the events on Zombie Island as the Shikigami user had told them. How he hadn't been able to break the curse entirely without killing them, and so had used his Shikigami to mutate their curses while safely breaking the hold the cat god had had upon them, freeing the zombies from their undead nightmare, even reviving the more recent victims. The result was Simone having been given the ability to transform into a were-lion of flame, and Lena an electric werewolf, and many good people being saved. _I know he's not a god or anything like that, but still..._

Lena's eyes went wide, just before she snarled, returning to her full werewolf shape, just before she opened her mouth wide and spat forth a bolt of lightning. Starting at this unexpected assault, Sango looked about just in time to see the electric blast strike another demon that had been about to attack Alyssa. Letting a cry of surprise, the former Wild Force Ranger looked about, quickly noting the fallen creature and her rescuer, and although it was impossible to see her face beneath her helmet, the gratitude in her voice was clear when she said, "Thanks, Lena!"

As the electric werewolf smiled in return, Sango sighed beneath her own helmet. Whatever she had been in the past, Lena was one of them now. And while she definitely had her flaws and problems, she had proven herself to genuinely mournful for her past actions, as well as determined to repent. _And it's not like I haven't my own dark days. My own sins to repent,_ the gamma-powered warrior reminded herself. _Besides, I can't think of things like that right now! We have a mission to accomplish, and -!_

"Come in, everyone!" came Nefertina's voice in Sango's ear, as if to prove that they were still on mission. "I hate to say this, but...I've got bad news, and worse news."

"Again?" Alyssa groaned wearily. "Isn't that what she said when we were fighting Ghatanothoa?"

"The bad news is that taking out the antenna at the Gozer Building hasn't stopped PKE levels from going up," Nefertina grimly reported. "Turns out that there are these transmitters all over the city that the antenna was transmitting power to. So unless we can take them all out, they're going keep ripping the dimensional walls apart until they run out of power!"

"Any idea where they're located?" Makoto wondered in a terse manner.

"Yui's working on finding them, using what Sonar found out, but I still have to give you the worse news," Nefertina informed them. "We've got giant monsters on their way here. One of them is going to pop up right next to the Gozer Building where Mitch and some of the others are, so they'll handle that one. But the other one is out in the water, in the Hudson River. I can't tell you anything about either of them, except that they're gonna be big, and that we need Sango to intercept the one in the Hudson."

"Maybe some of us should go as well," Makoto promptly suggested.

"Sorry, that's out of the question," Ranma intoned in a grave manner. "What we're looking at could just be the tip of the iceberg. We can't spread ourselves too thin if more nasties start showing up. And besides, we're gonna need as many people here as possible to track down those transmitters once Yui figures out where they are."

"But -!" Lena started to protest, only to be cut off when Sango held out her hand to her. "Sango -!"

"No. He's right. You and all the others are needed here," Sango stated in a manner that invited no rebuke. "Besides, I'm best equipped to deal with a battle out on the water." Having made her point, the Demon Slayer turned about to face the her friends, her family, her precious people regardless of whatever problems or difficulties she had with them or they with her. "Stay in touch. If I get in trouble, I'll be sure to contact you. But until then -"

"We know what to do," Alyssa promptly assured her with a proud nod.

"I know," Sango returned. "So, uh...which way to the Hudson River?"

"I'm sending you the coordinates now," Nefertina reported even as the map coordinates appeared on Sango's HUD. "Just head down to the south end of Manhattan!"

"Got it. I'm on my way there," Sango returned, wishing that Kirara was present. In her feline form, the two-tail would have been ideal for getting her there. But there was no helping it now; Kirara had been needed elsewhere. And it wasn't as if the gamma-powered Demon Slayer didn't have an alternative method of transportation. So Sango turned in the direction indicated by the map sent to her, gathered up her powerful legs beneath her, and then launched herself skyward.

Sango's gamma-powered muscle easily launched her several stories into the air, sending her over several buildings in the process. And despite the horrible situation she and the others were in, she couldn't help but feel a sense of exhilaration at her feat. _Yeah...this is one of those days when I'd probably be thanking the Leader..._ she couldn't help but think. _Right before _smashing_ him!_

Smiling at the thought of such an occurrence, Sango descended from her leap, just before again launching herself skyward, and continued this way to the southernmost tip of Manhattan. From there, a quick run took her to the harbor, giving the Demon Slayer a perfect view of landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And put her in the perfect place to summon a very good, very powerful friend.

Not wasting a movement, Sango brought forth the Dragon Dagger and placed it to the lips of her helmet, and began to play. A strange, dramatic fanfare issued forth from the weaponized flute, the Coin-like disk in its hilt glowing as a green pentagram spun into existence above it. Moments later, the pentagram shot out over the water, growing to huge proportions just before descending into the depths. A few seconds later, the water began to bubble madly, like it was beginning to boil.

But it wasn't heat that was causing the water to become increasingly agitated to the point that huge plumes of water began billowing up. It was the titanic figure of the mighty Green DragonZord, augmented by both Michiru's magic and enhanced with the best technology Stingray Industries could provide them, emerging into this world.

As the ancient, titanic being rose up to tower above Sango, she paused as always to admire the spectacle of the creature that was now hers to command. A roughly humanoid dragon with a long, powerful tail that ended in a drill that could punch through virtually anything, fitted with gold-trimmed armor and a long crest on its head. A creature that had been upgraded with twin back-mounted long-range buster cannons that hovered over the Zord's shoulders, large enough to decimate an entire city of the need arose. It's armor and systems had been upgraded and rebuilt almost entirely, giving the Zord far more power, speed, agility, and maneuverability than it had in the fast. And as it roared in readiness, it turned to face her, it's electronic eyes looking kindly at her, as always showing the truth of all Zords; that they all were all alive in their own way, and possessed a degree of sentience.

"We need your help, old friend," Sango explained to the Green DragonZord before leaping up to the top of its head. "This city, possibly the entire world, needs us."

The Green DragonZord growled in response, a sound that made it clear that it comprehended Sango's words and was ready to protect all others. To fulfill the purpose for which it had been created.

"We need to move out," Sango told it before playing the Dragon Dagger once more, sending the mighty Green DragonZord on a course that would take them to confront whatever was emerging into this world in the Hudson River.

As the Demon Slayer and her Zord companion moved out, already preparing for battle, Sango couldn't help but sigh. _I'm so glad you came with us to this world, old friend. After losing so much...my world...my friends...my brother...I don't think I could have handled losing you as well. _Then she frowned in worry, knowing that two people that were especially precious to her were also in danger, and she could not help either of them. _You, Kirara...or Michiru..._

* * *

><p>"Oh, boy," Michiru muttered as he looked down at the enormous mess that littered the roof of 55 Central Park West. What had once been an idyllic and comfortable place for gargoyles to roost during the day without fear of being attacked while trapped in the form of stone statues was now an utter and complete disaster area. Corpses of demons and large amounts of ectoplasm spattered virtually everything in sight, including himself and everyone else that was present. He had already dismissed Ryuu and Kameko, and was presently trying to mop the putrid goo off of his person. "I'm sure it's <em>possible<em> for us to be more soaked in slime...but I'm not exactly sure how."

"No joke," Jubilee muttered, shaking off the slime that coated her. "I'm just glad that all this gook will go away with our outfits when we de-morph! Seriously, if it was possible to be grossed right out of existence, I'd be gone already!"

"I seriously doubt that, seeing as we've dealt with worse," Kirara noted with a hint of amusement. Then she made a face as she wiped some of the mess off of her own uniform. "Though I _will _admit that I am glad to be wearing clothes. I'd rather not have all this soaking into my fur."

Unable to argue with that, Michiru was brought up short when Raven asked, "Scorpina...what are you doing?"

"Watching for the monster that we were warned about," Scorpina tersely replied, still scanning the surrounding area. "Nefertina warned us that a creature would appear in this area."

"Uh, right, good thinking," Michiru nodded, mentally kicking himself for forgetting that, even for an instant. "We need to stay focused. Get ready for -"

A massive thud shook the entirety of the Gozer Building, rattling Michiru and the rest of them. "Um...get ready for _that?"_ Jubilee gathered, a nervous grin marking her face. "Whatever _that _was?"

Michiru was about to order the rest of them to scatter about the rooftop, look for whatever had shook the building when a voice came over his com-device. "Uh, Mitch?" came Ilyssa, sounding decidedly unhappy. "I'm guessing Tina told you about the...thing that was going to arrive at 55 Central Park West?"

"Yes, she did," Michiru replied, only for his heart to skip a beat when he realized what the scientist was implying. "Wait - do you see it?!"

"It's right here! And it's coming right for us!" Hope told them with a good deal more heat.

_"What's _coming for you?!" Michiru demanded, moving to the edge of the roof and looking down towards the streets. His concern mounting when another massive thud shook the building. "Where is it?! Where are you?!"

"Uh, it's an old friend of ours, Mitch," Ilyssa informed him. "A big, soft, and white sailor from out of town."

As this description registered in Michiru's mind, his eyes went wide even as another thud shook him. "You've _got _to be kidding...!" he groaned, not even waiting for a response to this before launching himself into the air. Carried aloft by his Dragon Battlizer's jetpack, he soon began circling the Gozer Building...before being confronted with the source of Ilyssa's concern.

It was titanic. A veritable colossus of sugar and sweetness driven by evil itself. Capable of smashing all of New York City without much difficulty. And it once came dangerously close to killing both Michiru and Ilyssa in the world of their origin.

"The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man..." Raven muttered, sounding about as unsurprised and unimpressed as Michiru had ever heard her. "Of course."

"Ilyssa, I've spotted Stay Puft!" Michiru reported even as he watched 112.5 feet of densely packed marshmallow marching alongside of Central Park. Consisting of a bunch of large marshmallows assembled into a humanoid shape and topped off by a comical sailor hat and sailor's collar and red neckerchief, the creature was marching away from the Gozer Building. "But I can't see you! Are you -?!"

"In front of him, _yes!"_ Ilyssa hurriedly reported in a shaky voice, doubtlessly remembering her last encounter with Stay Puft. "We were heading towards you when he suddenly appeared! He took one look at us, and -!"

"- went after you! I understand!" Michiru concluded even as he jetted after the marshmallow monstrosity. "Alright, Bigfoot! Just stay ahead of Stay Puft! I'm on my way!"

"Do you want us to come with you?" Scorpina wondered with a slight tone of eagerness over Michiru's com.

"No. I've beaten Stay Puft once before," Michiru returned, that fateful encounter still fresh in his mind. "This shouldn't be any problem."

"Uh, hold on," Jubilee broke in with a note of concern. "Aren't there a couple _good _Stay Pufts out there? So shouldn't we make sure this guy is evil _before_ we start blowing him up?"

This caught Michiru by surprise, and made him hesitate for a brief moment. "Good point, Jubilee," he admitted before accelerating, getting to where he could see Bigfoot racing ahead of the titanic marshmallow. "Raven? Can you tell if this Stay Puft is actually Gozer?"

Raven didn't respond at first, but when she did, her voice was shaken. "It _is _Gozer. I...I sense that creature's mind, and...it's pure evil. Hatred for everything that lives, but... Michiru? There's something else. Something...worse."

Not liking the sound of that, Michiru reached out with his Shikigami. And although he lacked Raven's sensitivity, he still frowned as the spirits that were a part of him alerted him to something else. "Yes, I sense it, too. Some kind of...dark power. It feels...familiar." Frowning more deeply, the Shikigami Ranger tried to make sense of the sensation, but wasn't able to. He _knew _he'd encountered this feeling somewhere in the past, but at the moment, simply couldn't could place it. But even as he tried to dredge forth the memory, he saw Stay Puft tossing a glob of marshmallow at Bigfoot, who retaliated with a massive Boson Dart from his proton cannon. The devastating sphere of energy, several times larger than anything a personal proton pack could muster, slammed into the sugary titan...and didn't even leave a mark.

_That's not good. Boson Darts did a _lot _more damage when I _first _fought Stay Puft,_ Michiru thought, that encounter still vivid in his mind. _What was it that Ray said? That Gozer couldn't manifest his full power unless he had enough energy to generate the Supreme Destructor form and a blood sacrifice? So he still needs Ilyssa's Shandor blood to access his full power, but, still...more of his power must be coming through the breach, making him stronger this time!_

With this realization, Michiru realized that his problem was two-fold. For not only did he have to keep Stay Puft from getting Ilyssa, he had to take him out as quickly as possible. Otherwise, he might become too powerful to defeat at all. "Saba!" the Shikigami Ranger declared, taking the enchanted short sword from its place on his belt. "Summon the White TigerZord!"

"But what about the others?" Saba questioned. "You can't engage that monster if they're too close! They could be crushed underfoot!"

"Don't worry, I'm planning on buying them some time to get away!" Michiru assured his friend and advisor. "Just summon the TigerZord!" And so, Michiru threw Saba into the air, the short sword cutting open a massive pentagram in mid-air before disappearing into it.

Satisfied that backup would soon arrive, Michiru pushed the Dragon Battlizer for as much speed as he could. Fortunately, the plodding form of Stay Puft that Gozer wore wasn't exactly what anyone would call fast on its feet. In almost no time at all, the Shikigami Ranger had pulled ahead of the massive blob of densely packed marshmallow, and then came to hover before it so that he was looking right at the monstrosity, face to face.

Looking into a doughy, almost harmless face that completely belied the cruel nature of the force that animated it, a happy smile as it marched towards Michiru, the Shikigami Ranger hovered there as it drew closer. "Mitch!" came Ilyssa's voice in his ear. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Buying you some time to get clear!" Michiru tersely returned beneath his breath. "Nefertina, listen! Just get Bigfoot and the others out of here! As far from Stay Puft as possible! Understood?!"

"But -!" Ilyssa started to protest.

"Got it, Mitch!" Nefertina broke in before the scientist could say anything else. "C'mon, Bigfoot! Hyperdrive!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Michiru watched as Bigfoot accelerated, his front wheels lifting into the air as he shot away from the danger zone as fast as he could. Once satisfied that they would soon be out of danger, the Shikigami Ranger returned his attention to his enemy, and buying them as much as he could before the Tiger Zord arrived. "Gozer the Traveler! Gozer the Gozerian! Gozer the Destructor!" Michiru called out, resisting the urge to add in 'Gozer the Bonehead'. "Hear me!"

Taking note of the tiny creature that had given voice to his name and titles, Stay Puft focused on the Shikigami Ranger, as if wondering what this insignificant gnat was trying to accomplish. Feeling no fear as the monstrous creature's eyes settled on him, Michiru reached up to his helmet, undid the latches, and lifted it up off his head, revealing his face to the creature. "Do you recognize this face, Gozer?"

A beat passed as Stay Puft studied Michiru's naked face, and then the creature's eyes went wide with surprise, then narrowed with hatred. Bellowing with rage, the massive monster swung its arm at him, trying to bat the magically-powered Ranger out of the air.

"I thought you might...Gozer the Bonehead!" Michiru taunted, unable to hold back the urge this time even as he evaded the clumsy charge. "Just go back where you came from, already! The _last _time we met, I was dangling over the side of a building, and all I had was my magic and a _broken_ proton pack! And I _still _managed to beat you!" Dodging another clumsy attack, the Shikigami Ranger distanced himself a bit further from the lumbering behemoth, pausing just long enough to place his helmet back on his head. "This time...I have a _lot _more power! And even _better _weapons!"

With that declaration, Michiru activated the Dragon Cannon that was mounted over his back, which swung up to hover over his right shoulder. The Cannon's mouth opened wider and began crackling with power. "Forces of nature, heed my call!" the Shikigami Ranger invoked, a massive pentagram appearing at his feet and power radiating from his body. "Unite your powers unto one, Shikigami!" he continued, a second pentagram appearing about the muzzle of the Dragon Cannon that was swirling with magical might. _"Hyper-Star Blaster!"_

An instant later, the mighty Dragon Cannon unleashed a massive blast of power that struck the pentagram, unleashing a tremendous wave of azure light that quickly resolved into a immense dragon of energy. The mighty blast that was carrying with it all the powers of the forces of nature streaked straight and true at Stay Puft, opening its massive maw as if to bight the creature. But then it instead spat forth a massive bolt of protonic power at the ectoplasmic behemoth, streams of energy and multiple Boson Darts striking Stay Puft right in its face.

The result was instantaneous. Stay Puft's head literally exploded into a plume of roasted marshmallow, sending the creature staggering back a few steps, leaving it completely vulnerable for the dragon head of Michiru's blast to follow up by biting Stay Puft hard right where it's head had once been, drilling deep into its body, sending even more blackened gore flying up into the air.

"Ha! Free s'mores for everybody, from 54th Street to 5th Avenue!" Michiru called out as Stay Puft tottered backwards, recalling Ray's words from his time as a Ghostbuster. "Happy Hallow...huh?"

Stay Puft wasn't falling down. It was still staggering badly, but it hadn't collapsed to the streets, hadn't exploded in a splatter of marshmallow goo like it had the last time Michiru had encountered the creature. In fact, it was slowly recovering, more blackened marshmallow goo spilling up from the wound where it's head had been.

_Guess I shouldn't have expected it to be _that _easy!_ Michiru decided with a slight grimace as more blackened sludge spilled up from where Stay Puft's head had been. _Oh, well. Once Saba gets back with the TigerZord, we'll...what?_

As Michiru continued to look on, he realized that what was billowing up from where Stay Puft's head had been wasn't simply scorched marshmallow good. It was too black, and radiated pure malice and hatred even. It pulsated, whispered cruelties and evils that should never be given voice to. And it was at that moment that he realized where he has sensed the strange sensations he had detected coming from Stay Puft.

It was black slime.

_And Stay Puft's _filled_ with it?!_ Michiru realized, blanching as more marshmallow goo billowed up, reforming Stay Puft's head, but not as it had been before. Instead, the head that was looking at him was a skeletal mix of black slime and tainted marshmallow, with baleful, burning red eyes. Twisted hair rose up in an malicious flattop, almost like a head filled with horns.

And then a terrible roar cracked the air.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: This is one Halloween that Michiru and the rest of them aren't gonna forget, though that doesn't mean they won't wish they could! Please, read and review! And maybe check out my other stories?<p>

Greymon Leader Batx flashpoint, Michiru does have a good relationship with Saba, in that he can count on Saba to give him sound advice and keep a level head. True, there are times Michiru wishes he could clone himself. And Bigfoot is always awesome.


End file.
